Kyle Boatright writes:

Yep, but it wasn't flying, which is the whole point, right?

For some people, the differences between flying a real airplane and flying a
simulated airplane simply are not that important, which is why they enjoy
simming. Even for people who prefer flying a real airplane, simulation is
close enough to the real thing and so incredibly inexpensive that it doesn't
make sense to refuse to try it.

In just online sim flying alone I have around 900 hours of time in the air,
for less cost than a single hour in a tiny tin can airplane would cost in real
life (and disregarding the huge cost of just getting a license for a
real-world aircraft).