Flight Unlimited 3 is a good general aviation simulator, which is to say that while I couldn't give it full marks it is well worth flying, better in many respects than the other GA sims out there.
 
 

The game is set in the Seattle area, offering satellite photo scenery including the city and other towns, the sea, mountains, wooded hills and islands. You can fly everything from a WW1 Fokker Triplane through standard single and twin engined propeller aircraft to a fast ultra-modern jet with all the latest systems. Interesting asides (i.e. where I actually spend most of my time!) are offered by two seaplanes and the Stemme motorglider.

Flying is quite a challenge - very different to my sim experiences so far in the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Falcon. The navigation and flight control computers in those aircraft probably cost more than the whole aircraft where most of FU3 is concerned. Just getting from A to B in a relatively straight line is quite interesting. Now this is not too difficult in good weather/daylight, when you can even follow roads on the ground below using the map (I found Microsoft HQ this way) but pretty hard at night or in rain/cloud/fog.

The aircraft differ greatly in the assistance they offer the pilot. You will quickly learn to tune to the nearest VOR beacon, helping you to find the larger airports. Finding the smaller ones can mean flying to the VOR then putting it on a back bearing to find the airfield you want. More advanced planes give you the option of a bearing and altitude autopilot, though wind can blow you off course. Checking your progress using the "cheat" position overlay on the map helps, but removes a lot of the magic from the sim. It's more fun trying to pick out landmarks and checking beacon ranges.

Of course, flying a 120 knot aircraft means that you are very much at the mercy of wind and weather. The wind modelling includes excellent ridge lift modelling so vital for a good hill gliding experience. It also includes enough turbulence to make a clear day interesting and a storm dangerous. Looking at the aircraft flying from an outside view reveals that it is often bouncing to a greater or lesser degree. Bad weather can be a killer - my best adventure so far was trying to get out of a hilly area beset by low cloud. I could see the valleys but not the ridge lines. As I approached each ridge I would pitch up into the cloud base for what I judged was the right amount of time before descending in the hope of catching a glimpse of ground. I was doing OK but ironically I crashed while trying to set up an autopilot solution.

 If you get tired of flying around you could try the "Challenges", a series of preset adventures, ranging from lifting stranded hikers out of a mountain lake airstrip in a seaplane to flying through hoops as quickly as possible.

In all, while it isn't as perfect as Falcon 4 (You at the back, stop laughing!) and can lack the adrenaline surge of a low level raid on Basra, Flight Unlimited III will teach you more about actually flying than you wanted to know. It is a salutary lesson to all of us who thought we weren't too bad at it - get in a Cessna and fly through a weather front in the dark! Or turn to motor off and stow the prop in the glider. How long will you last? What is that Trim thing anyway? Enjoy!