ORIGINAL: invertmast

The guys who taught me to fly said to not even think about buying a 2nd airplane until i was able to outfly the trainer i learned on. I flew that airplane so much it was literally falling apart when you would start. But! I could do every manuever that airplane was possible of and every landing was as smooth as grass.

IMO the way to become a better pilot has nothing to do with learning aerobatics (at first). You need to be able to:

1. Fly a wings level straight line without changing altitude
2. Point the airplane exactly where you want it in order to maintain the correct GROUND track parallel to the flight line.
3. Be able to make a consistent climbing or descending turn through 90, 180 and 360 degrees.
4. Be able to make a turn to final and be wings level to allow the airplanes ground track to go straight down the centerline of the runway with minor changes in heading and bank.
5. Maintain a consistent speed and descent rate through a descending 90* turn to final, this sets you up for a perfect landing everytime.
6. Flare the airplane for landing everytime so the wheels touch down as the wing stops flying.

While many of those items above seem really simple, 95% of the pilots i see around cant do one of them, let alone combinations of them! Being a master of those basic skills will set you up for success on flying near every airplane you come across.

Now when it comes to aerobatics, lots of stick time and some mentors really help.