I tried a couple of sims and I found that you get what you pay for. The free versions were just not good enough for me to get a feel for the flight. The free trial of ClearView was OK and it impressed me enough that I paid the $40 and got the full download. The full download is way better than the trial. I also purchased an Esky sim controller - $30 and it's USB so there's no messing around to make it work.
Would I like to have the $200 - $300 sim? You bet I would! They are wonderful! But for the practice I need the $40 Clearview works just fine. And you get lifetime updates. There are lots of variables in the helicopter setup area so you can tune your helicopter for a close to real feel.

For the money, I'd go ClearView. If there was a sim that was better for just a little more, I'd go that route, but the next step up is over $100 more. I have $40 in the sim and $30 in the controller.

Soloboss