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I believe I saved actual money by training some tasks in FSX vs spending time in an actual aircraft
granted, those situations were extremely limited, and you have to know how to extract realism from even so basic a sim as FSX, but reminder that various forms of Flight Simulators are a government approved part of real life training programs.
The 911 hijackers practiced in full motion flight simulators, and the availability of that equipment now exist behind a regulatory barrier, and a potential investigation by the Transportation Security Administration (or relevant government body?)