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I have Realflight G3.5 and i used it for quite a while i went out and still had an instructor but only flew about 4 or 5 flights with him before i solo'd so i would recommend G3.5

i have Realflight G3.5 as well and found that for me returning to RC after a 15 year layoff helped me immensly to get the thumbs and brain back in sync...................i like it so much that i practice with it at least 3 times during the week.

this last sunday i had a flame out with my Big Stik w/tower.75 at an altitude of 30 feet over the middle of the runway.............you could hear 2 guys sittin behind me saying "oh crap...your gonna end up in the brush for sure".....not so, took a quick right roll and downwind 20-30 feet and another quick right hand rollout and i touched down right in the same area as where the engine flamed out..................quick thinkin?......no.......quick response?....yes.... due mostly to my practice time with the simulator, as that flight was only the 4th flight on a real RC bird since coming back to RC.

tried a couple other sim's at the LHS and found them every bit as good as G3.5...................i only bought 3.5 because i was buying all my stuff from Tower as they accept paypal.......otherwise i would have just chosen the one that was available at the LHS.......they're all good these days.