Why is it that everytime someone wants to get into flying everyone always says "get an instructor". That seems to be the favorite response. Did it ever occur to anyone that some people have the knowledge and ability to take on rc flight without an instructor. I for one learned without an instructor or a buddy box over 20 years ago. No I did not crash. I flew that all foam trainer 3 times before I was bored with it and it's Enya .15 engine and went to a low wing, and yes it flew fine with no crashes for about20 flights before I decided to built a CG Anniversary cub and fly it and yes it is alive to this day.If I lived on a large farm or ranch with acres and acres of opened landI would not worry about an instructor. There is enough info on the web these daysfor you to teach yourself how to start and tune an engine.Back to the question, no a sim is nothing like real life. It can teach you hand eye coordination which helps alot when the plane is flying at you. It can teach you what stick makes the plane move what way. It takes discipline on the sim as well as real life. Treat the sim as if it were a 4 hundred dollar plane and you do not have a reset button. If you can fly and land flight after fligth on the sim with no problems and you know for a fact that you can set up a plane "by the way there is enough info on the web for that to" then by all means I would buy a high wing trainer and give it a shot on my own, but you will get bored with it fast. Don't take this to heart but if I were in yours shoes and I felt like I could handle a low wing I would buy the Phoenix Dolphin to start off with. my 12 year old son flew mine for about 10 flights and then went to flying his .40 Ultimate.Now like I said don't take that to heart, but that is what I would do.