Having earned three type ratings in a simulator and two in an airplane I can attest that the airplane rides are much easier, as W0X0F_2p2 is suggesting. Not only are the controls slightly more sensitive than are those of the real aircraft, but the sensations of flight are far more realistic in the airplane than in any simulator. Further, the examiner and instructors in simulators are far more likely to impose very difficult and highly unlikely events than are people whose lives are at stake in an actual aircraft.

I find that actual flying is always a breeze after the intense and demanding simulator activity. I am at my best as a pilot immediately following simulator training.