As the author of this thread I have returned with another query.
My PPL lessons are going really well and I have to admit that Flight Sim is a really useful tool when used as described by a few people on this forum. However, as also described it has it's limitations. One of the most irritating is the unrealistic "eye scan" in 3D mode. It's too slow and it's very easy to lose track of reference points etc. One or two people here mentioned TRACK IR as a more realistic alternative to the hat switch. I have looked into this but as with many things there are more options,models and configurations than I can shake a stick at. Of course cash is a factor also, I don't want to spend any more than I have to.
I would appreciate some feedback from anyone using this system. Is it worth the cost and what configurations are you using?
BTW I currently don't have a multi-screen environment. I have a 24" widescreen on a fairly new Intel i7 860 based PC with a modern graphics card, Windows 7 64bit and 6GB RAM. I also have smaller 19"second screen which can easily be set up if required. I won't be investing in more monitors, I have to draw the line somewhere.
Thanks for reading.