My uncle has his PPL so we fly whenever I'm in southern California, usually just for day trips to smaller cities. Once picked me up and returned me from LAX when I had an FL certificate for being bumped and couldn't get to SAN because FL doesn't fly there.

Considering that a full-motion Level D simulator is approved for the full type rating curriculum, the answer is 'extremely close'. There are certain things even a Level D sim won't do, but that's mainly things you wouldn't do in a real aircraft either. Ditching on an ocean is one of them.

Obviously a Level D sim is way cheaper than renting a whole 757 to play around with, but you're still looking at very serious money - upwards of 500 USD per hour is a good ballpark figure.

But less than a Level D will do if you want a taste of what it's like to pole an airliner around the skies, but if you have no prior knowledge of what flying an aircraft is like, you won't get much from it. You can learn quite a lot about avionics from an advanced PC simulator, such as X-plane and B757 Professional, or MSFS and the PDMG 737. At least you'll know your ASI from your VSI, and that's not a bad place to start! I've had people in the 757 (Level C) sim who only knew flying from MSFS, and they did quite well - including landing the kite from a 10NM final, with the sim set-up on speed, on glideslope and with gear and flaps set. One of them even got both sets of main-gear on the same runway at a ROD that would only have caused mild panic down the back, had it been a 'real' airliner :)

However, and as advised up thread, much better idea to go to your local flight school and purchase an hour in a Cessna with an instructor.

Glad to hear it for the Arrows have one now, first one for me was an Erocoupe

PPL, current - fly a C152 just for local jollies (and expensive burgers at nearby airfields). And I'm another one who doesn't like stalls!

On my Skill Test, I had an amusing "incident" around the stalls. I wrote about the entire test on a flying forum but here is a part of it here:

"The airwork was the airwork. Remembered the HASELL, then the HELL, and did all that was asked to the best of my ability. The only bit I remember not going quite right (examiner might have other views!) was when asked to recover at the incipient stall. I think I decided that the wind buffetting my trousers from the airvent was a sign so recovered ! I declared this to the examiner as it was fairly obvious that there was absolutely no sign of a stall at all, and that I might just wait a little bit longer for the next one. Did that, got the buffetting (honest guv), cannot remember the stall warner going off but there was definitely buffeting so recovered."

For my PPL I was (in training and for the test) required to take the stall to a full break. When I later got checked out in another airplane, I only had to do it to the buffet.

For the PPL Skill Test I had to recover from a fully developed stall, then it was onto the incipient-that-wasn't! :)

Thanks for all the responses, yes I mean't for pleasure, as a PPL.

I've been really lucky with my flying, started working at a small airfield and progressed to the Ops Manager (and doing the air ground radio) there. I got staff flying rates hence starting my PPL, which was fab until the fear set in after a few solo circuits!

It was an incredible working experience, I got to fly in helicopters, fly in one of the front seats of the Virgin Airship (one one occasion with an aerobatic plane barrel rolling around us!) and also got 6 hours overnight in one of the BA simulators at Cranebank.

That was many years ago and going from learning to fly in a PA28-140 to sitting in the glass cockpit of a 747-400 was awesome. I was completely and utterly useless! But the experience of taking off and landing at dozens of worldwide airports in the space of 6 hours was incredible. We practised engine failures in cruise and after takeoff, the less said about those the better. I have the utmost respect for all the commercial pilots who fly us around the world each day and also a huge debt of gratitude for the person who somehow arranged the experience.

I just wish I wasn't still so nervous about flying!

Yep, that covers it! And a PA28-180 is much more fun to fly... horsepower!

From the time I was around 8, my dad had planes until about 10 years ago when he changed his hobby to specialty baking. We used to fly everywhere in his planes... all the way from Boston to St. Barts a few times (with 3 intermediate stops IIRC). While the freedom to set our own schedules was nice, on numerous occasions, we couldn't fly at all due to unfavorable weather conditions, which invariably resulted in some crazy car shuttling schemes to fix things.

I'm curious - what experiences did people have with stalling a plane that was so negative? It's almost a non-event when I do one in a C182 at least.. I can hold the yoke full aft and the plane sort of just mushes along. Nothing very dramatic. Or did you have instructors that insisted that you shove the yoke full forward to break the stall?

This is giving me the itch to go out and practice stalls this weekend now. :)

In the C182 that I fly it is hard to get a power on departure stall without going above 30 degrees pitch up. I have done the most stalls in a C172 and although they were a bit scary the first time I experienced them, they got to be quite docile - especially a power off, straight ahead stall…. which my CFI didn't let me do much - most stalls were turning stalls which are a bit more difficult.

I think you are underestimating how much 30 degrees of pitch actually is. Most light twins and all single engine aircraft I have flown do not even come close to 30 degrees nose up during a full power departure stall, at least with a typical 3kt per second deceleration especially at the altitude used to practise stalls. I would estimate it closer to 15 to 18 degrees. In a turn this would be reduced again.

If you ever have the chance to fly in an aerobatic category airplane have the instructor show you what 30 degrees of nose up pitch actually looks like.

From my experience teaching most students are apprehensive of turning and uncoordinated stalls. But in my opnion they are even more important because you are only really going to stall by accident when distracted or during an unusual circumstance which is very unlikey to be straight ahead. Again comes back to my point of insufficient stall training.

I have flown a Super Decathlon for spin training and some basic aerobatic maneuvers. I am working on getting my tail-dragger endorsement in it.

Yup.

The Super Decathlon is a fantastic plane to get your TW endorsement in. I think it should be mandatory for all PP candidates. Really teaches proper stick and rudder techniques and that an airplane isn't finished flying until it's tied down. :)

It does surprise me that given this experience you still feel a C182 approaches 30 deg. nose up for a departure stall.