Way back when I had attempted to learn to fly on my own. I didn't have a Flight Sim. All I had was a desire to fly R/C airplanes. Well, the fist plane I built was a high wing plane (don't remember what it was).
I took it to an experienced flyer and he took it up for it's maiden flight. He checked the controls for correct movement and all the linkages and tuned the engine. It had to be hand launched and when he let it go it went straight up and then stalled and nosed into the ground. The plane was a total loss. He had told me the wing was probably warped. (looking back it was probably tail heavy)
Well I almost gave up but I wanted to fly. I bought numerous kits, built them, and crashed every single one of them.
One day I was at a mall and there happened to be static display of R/C planes. One in particular was a Stearman which I really liked. I spoke to it's owner and he directed me to to the club's instructor.
I still built my planes, balanced them and flew them with an instructor and 'buddy box'.
If I had not found someone to teach me I'd probably would have given up.
Now (20 years later) I use Sims when it's too cold to go to the field or when It's just not practical to fly.
IMHO you can't replace the real life experience of flying R/C sitting in front of a Computer.


Tom