As one who flew the "Heavy Metal" for far too long, but also flew the little stuff {and still do fly both} there is no doubt in my mind that flying the small stuff produces a FAR better big aircraft driver than such scheams which omit basic handling, aerobatics, float flying and all the other avenues available, in this respect we in Canada have a much greater cross section of fields one can build survival skills than most other countries, in fact most operators of the big stuff give priority to such backgrounds when hiring pilots.