Quote Originally Posted by wotai View Post
One thing I always recommend to students is to use a flight simulator at home. It is a great tool during your pilot training. It allows you to practice what you learnt at your lessons when you come home. Flying lessons are expensive and it's difficult to go out and fly every single day as much as we may want to. If you're practicing and flying at home, it also means less time spent going over review at your next lesson.
I'll agree to an extent.

My two biggest complaints about home simulation programs are that:

*They don't have the same tactile feedback as a real plane;

*I keep having to untrain self-taught instrument pilots - that is they're looking at the gauges instead out the window.

Having said that, they can be good procedures trainers under the guidance of an instructor. Make sure you coordinate with your instructor so you get the most effective use of your time.