@mixture: Right, I wasn't considering PC-sims but the real multi-million dollar big plane simulators.
@Nubboy, @PhineasC:
Thanks for the comments. When you actually experienced windshear, turbulence etc. in a real Airbus was it close to what the simulator threw at you? How about the deceleration in an aborted landing?
Can you simulate a depressurization and in that case do masks actually drop? Or imagine the Air France loss over the Atlantic: if you simulate a stall scenario like that and a high rate descent; does the simulator manage the rate of descent you would experience in a real incident?
Another question: Is simulation useful for taxi-training. Thinking of the recent tail-clipping incidents or runway incursions etc. are simulators of any help there? I'd imagine that to be tough because you need to model the sizes an visuals of all the other traffic on the tarmac too.
Apologies, if I am getting carried away with my questions!!