For what its worth, there are a few freebie MS Flightsim programs on the net. Will certainly help for the layout and give an idea of the handling.
Manchester and Paris do have EMB145 sims which BA Connect and Bmi regional use on a regular basis. As such it is virtually nigh on impossible for a punter off the street to borrow one, even with an ATPL.
Regards
Jenson Button
oooh that pesky Schumacher