Just to be clear,
the method I've described improved my landings immensely in real planes.
It works extremely well in flight simulators as well.
When flying larger planes, I have to change the distance and altitude (real and sim), for example in a C-152, 400' and 1/2 mile is almost too far away, in a Maule, it's definitely too far away, in a C-182 it's perfect, in a C-208 it's doable, but 1 mile and 800' is better, in a C-310 3/4 mile and 500' seems to be best.
Other heights and distances are workable, but that depends on experience in type and general experience.