ORIGINAL: tIANci
sim and real thing is not the same. It helps on the orientation etc but its not the same at all.
Absolutely!
A sim helps. Orientation is the primary thing and, to some extent, the need to maintain some speed at all times.
A sim will not teach you flight safety either: a prop that is turning can do nasty things to you, even if there's just a tiny electric motor powering it.