One thing that hasn't been said before that probably should be brought out.... There is a huge difference in "flying" an airplane and "being in control" of an airplane. It doesn't take much skill to get an airplane in the air, fly it around, and then land it, that would be flying it. But being in true control with an airplane is something totally different. Being in control means that you aren't always trying to "catch up" to what the plane is doing. Being in control means that you know what the plane will do when you give it certain control inputs. Being in control means you know how to recover a plane from that inverted flat spin, or that unexpected snap roll. I can't even begin to count all of the people I have seen try to fly a plane that there weren't in control of. It may not happen on the very first flight, but it usually doesn't take too much time before they get in over their heads and plant the plane. It happens because too many people try to fly an advanced plane too soon.

Ken