Whirleybird:
You shure do ask a lot of questions.
However the questions deserve an answer.
Is someone a better pilot because they soloed in less hours: NO.
Does it matter what sort of flying you did in those hours: YES.
Or how recently you flew the time? : All skills generally diminish if you do not use them over a period of time. ( Except Sex.
)However it is a bit more complex than your other question, generally speaking an experienced pilot will very quickly regain flying skills after a prolonged lay off from flying.
As to hours spent flying between the UK and Aus compared to hours spent flying a taildragger from short strips: That Whirley depends on which flying you wish to continue doing, they both require their own skills and knowledge of the type of flying you are doing. Therefore there canno't be a fair comparison made between the two.
Hours of instructing are valuable, however it is also a very difficult question to answer properly, without going into far more time than I have to answer the question fairly.
Your decision to fly with people experienced in their field and combine many different types of flying was the correct decision.
When flying by yourself you will generally learn important lessons by making mistakes, by flying with someone with lots of experience they can teach you what to do and not to do without you having to make your own mistakes.
Hope that helps, soooo...did you learn anything??
Cat Driver:
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no.