FiveO,
What BubbaGates said is right on the money. But from reading your last post I don't think that you want to hear what he had to say, it sounds more like you are fishing for somebody to say "yes, you can learn on the UCD". Flying figure 8's is a far cry from being able to successfully fly an airplane. You said yourself that you can't land or take off yet. Taking of is easy, but landing is a skill that is probably the most difficult for any pilot to learn. As for flying your trainer inverted, yes it will fly inverted but it isn't easy. That's the point, if you can fly it inverted for 3 laps around your field then you have the skill needed to move up.

Like Bubba said, calling the UCD easy to fly is a relative term. Yes, your buddies say it's easy to fly but they've been flying for awhile and probably forgotten what it's like to learn. I see it all the time. As an instructor at your field (just solo'ed another student this morning) I see people all the time come out to the field just like you. Some sim time and they think that they can skip a trainer. In 7 years as an instructor I have yet to see the student that could skip the trainer. The UCD is designed for one thing, and that is to fly 3D. Yes it can fly slow, and it can do harrier landings, but that's not what you need to learn how to fly. The UCD is the type of plane that requires constant corrections and input when it is flying slow. Trainers are designed to fly stable, meaning flat and level without needing a lot of corrections from the pilot. That's what you need to learn how to fly.

It may seem that I'm being harsh with you, and believe me that is definitely not what I am trying to do. I am just trying to get a point across that you need to spend time on the trainer before you move to the UCD. The skills that you learn on the trainer will serve you once you move up to the UCD.

Hope this helps.