Well, I haven't made the jump to FSX yet. I'm still using FS9.
However, I would imagine it all applies here.

Obviously, the biggest difference is the fact that you really don't
get any sort of feel for the control pressures required or the forces
exerted on the aircraft in MSFS. It does give you sort of a static
"action/reaction" experience, though. The biggest help MSFS provided -
for me, anyway - was that it taught me many of the concepts that are
covered in early lessons. John was pleased to find that I understood
what the primary guages on the instrumentation panel were all about
and how to use them. Also, concepts such as rudder and trim usage and
the basic maneuvers (climb, descend, turn and straight and level
flight) were already familiar to me. It was just a matter of
practicing the same actions with a real aircraft. The use of rudder
and back pressure on the controls during a turn, would be one good
example.

One thing I found to be much easier in real practice is trimming the
aircraft. I have come to find that the Cessna 172 modeled in MSFS
leaves a bit to be desired in that department. Trimming was one point
I was a bit nervous about before I ever tried it in a real situation,
as in MSFS, it is very difficult to get quite right much of the time.
I found that in the sim, I would often get to the point where I almost
had the aircraft trimmed for level flight, yet the slightest click for
additional trim adjusted my pitch too far in the opposite direction,
causing me to be unable to establish level flight that way. It is much
easier with the real thing.

On the other hand, taxiing in the sim is *much* easier than the real
thing - well, for me anyway. I still get a little squirrelly trying to
keep it straight on takeoff as well.

Once you develop an understanding of the basic physics involved, MS
sims are still a great tool for preparation and practicing things such
as IFR and radio communications. I haven't even touched on those
topics yet, but I feel confident I will get plenty of benefit out of
the simulation where they are concerned.

I also found that when I started flying IRL that knowing the guages and what
they do was a big advantage. One other thing that helped a lot was knowing
how to enter and fly an approach and talking to the tower. On my very first
lesson I was allowed to enter, fly the downwind, base and final. My CFI kept
saying "your plane" all the way to the flare when he brought the nose up
just a tad until we got a faint stall alarm. He barely put backpressure on
the yoke, but he still gave me credit for the landing since he never took
the plane. So in my log, I have one more landing than takeoffs.......:-) I
hope it stays that way.........


Ed