G. Sylvester wrote:

The other thing to keep in mind is when you fly IFR, you fly IFR.
You don't 'practice IFR.' Ok, you can do VFR practice approaches
but you still have to do them as ATC expects you to do them the
published way. The first time I went up with my CFII out of SQL,
our clearance was 'maintain VFR at 1100 or below.' I didn't have
the skills to do that, checklists, call departure, etc. and I busted
altitude by no less than 50 feet. ATC was on my ass immediately.
You 'do' and not 'practice' in the system. The simulator helps
that.

While this may have happened to you, I'd say that kind of experience is
exceptional. Sorry it happened to you.

Where I live, I can fly VFR with few altitude restrictions, but then I don't fly
out of SQL.

When flying VFR practice approaches I've never had ATC care whether or not they
were done "in the published way". VFR is VFR.

In 16 years and 1500+ hours of flying, I've never heard of anyone busted by ATC
for a 50 foot altitude deviation (well, I guess now I have).

Regardless, I agree a PC-based flight simulator can save you time and money on
IFR training.

Dave