Some thoughts:
Aviation nut from the age of five.
Air Cadets, gliding solo at the age of 16,
RAF flying scholarship at the age of 17
RAF jet training at the age of 20
RAF helicopter training at the age of 22
RAF helicopter captain at the age of 23
RAF QHI at the age of 28
RAF display pilot at the age of 31
RAF QFI at the age of 33
Government Captain on SAR/VIP/Special ops age of 38
Police Air support unit chief pilot age of 42
Corporate/VIP Captain from the age of 45
Still flying helicopters until retirement, possibly 13,000 hours later.
Was I ever an "Expert" pilot? I might have been just about able to see the bottom rung of the ladder by the end of my career time.
Was I an "Expert pilot" after 500 hours? By that stage I knew nothing much about flying at all worth talking about.
As for building a new aviation business in a foreign country from scratch, doing something in aviation no-one has ever done before, in what is probably one of the most demanding roles there is, when I couldn't even speak the language.... and learning to operate helicopters - I'd be a legend.
Good luck is all I can say.