Instead of the Biennial Flight Review (BFR), I’ve decided to train for the Complex Airplane Endorsement as per FAR 61.31. The plane I am using is a vintage 1980 Cessna 172 Cutlass RG. I’ve familiarized myself with the plane’s specifications (v-speeds, weights, cg-limits, fuel, etc.), have studied the 172RG’s POH and have purchased the similar C182 RG model extension for the MS-Flight simulator from Carenado. The actual 172RG Cutlass is not available.Flying the thing on the MS Flight simulator with options set to “hard” or “realistic” is actually more difficult than flying the real plane, for some reason. The controls of the flight simulator do not have realistic feedback and make the simulator experience feel wrong. But it helps to go through the motions on the simulator and get a feeling for where the instruments and levers are located.I’ve had one lesson in the 172RG so far and that went pretty well. My instructor lets me run thru the final GUMPS checklist three (3!) times after entering the traffic pattern, just so that there is no danger of forgetting to extend the landing gear. As the saying goes, there are two kinds of pilots: Those who have landed without the landing gear extended and those who have not yet done so. We shall see!