(mad_jock):
MSFS must have cost students a fortune over the years.
Would that be for hardware and add-ons or flying lessons?
My MSFS experience arguably was neither a burden nor an asset during my flying lessons. Strangely, learning to fly real airplanes made me a better armchair yoke-and-pedals pilot, but no handling skill transfer the other way around
. Still, besides being fun and a cheap substitute drug, I also find it somewhat useful for headwork, flight planning, radio navigation, situation awareness and R/T if practiced with an "as real as it gets within limits" approach, and it's a nice opportunity to experience free and ultimately harmless but still instructive "oh sh..."-moments, too.