First of all, welcome to the hobby.

The sim is a good tool for practice and for getting parts of actual flight correct.. like right and left turn, both coming toward you and going away from you. Then the other aspects of it, trim and straight and level flight. All very important.

The problem with the sim is the perspective you get on the monitor versus what you get in real flight. You can see the ground, see the surroundings, and watch your plane as you make the approach.. all in real flying, not with the sim. With the sim, you have to remember the background so you get the alignment correct. This is basically the same with real flying, but you can see the background as well as the runway when you fly the real thing. Again, the sim is a good tool, but not the substitute for the real thing.

The best you can do is to practice with the sim, and then fly the Nexstar with an instructor with you on a buddy box. You may proceed through the training faster as a result of the sim, but the buddy box part is really needed so you learn the basics and gain the experience from the instructor, about flying, trim, emergency procedures, approach and landing... and the take-off. All necessary if you are going to get the basics right and continue in this hobby.

A very important part of the flying is the preparation and pre-flight. You cannot learn this from the sim. Then, the in-flight problems that come up, such as trim (I already mentioned that, but a very important part of the RC flight) you cannot learn from the sim.

Yes, continue with the sim, but find a club and an instructor, and get together with that person and learn that way.

Again, welcome to the hobby. The Nexstar is a great trainer, I had one and trained on it. It's still around, owned by someone else, but still flyable and training others on how to fly.

CGr.