Here's how it looked to me shortly after I got my ticket:

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Articles.htm (first Avweb article)

With the perspective of 220 hours, my feelings are mixed:

If you have the time, money, and skill to set up with yoke, rudder pedals,
and realistic flight models (which the out-of-the-box ones are not) it can
be very valuable in the last half of your training and the first 100 hours;
especially if money and weather keep you from flying regularly. If you
can't get anything except the joystick and stock program, forget it.

I was already a dedicated simmer when I started real flying which was an
offshoot of that. If you are not already into it, forget it, you've got
plenty to learn and spend your money on.

There was a time when it was definitely true that I would fly better after
three months away from the real plane during which I simmed extensively than
a month away from both. This was with a custom flight model I developed to
almost exactly match the panel and performance of my real plane. Even the
interior view were digital photos of the real thing. I don't know what the
effect would be without that close match.

I got so involved with real aviation that I just suddenly stopped simming
and haven't missed it. The days when it was really valuable were back when,
even though I had a license, I was still struggling to refine a lot of the
basics. If I didn't have airspeed and positioning just right as I turned
base, I would be trying to get back on the rails all the way to the flare.
The sim really helped me to be ahead of the plane and properly positioned to
get in the groove.

Now, if ATC calls for best speed and short approach, I can head for the
numbers, turn onto the centerline just short of them with a hint of pink
over red, cut the power, zoom up above the glidesloop, put in full flaps and
slip back into the spot I want.
(I don't do this kind of hot dogging often but I could see the regional on
final and knew the tower had called it a bit close.)
That kind of control of the plane, which didn't come until about 100 hours
after getting my license, kind of eliminated the need for the specific
skills that the sim was helping me keep sharp. I think I basically outgrew
it.

I'm sure though, that if I decide to go for an instrument rating, I'll be
pulling the dusty yoke and pedals out of the cellar.

--

Roger Long