would being a pilot make you a better engineer/mechanic.???
Usually. For a stack of reasons varying from a design engineer better understanding the environment that he's designing for, to a mechanic being better equipped to talk with aircrew and understand what troubles them on more complex faults than "it just doesn't work".
And on that vein, one shouldn't miss the fact that a pilot who has a reasonable grasp of Engineering is better equipped to tell an engineer how he'd like it designed better next time around, or a mechanic what needs fixing.
Of course you could go one further, and argue that the people regulating us (pick national authority of your choice) should at-least be a practicing engineer, mechanic or pilot - which I think would make everybody happier.
The chaps for whom I've most respect are those rare and gifted individuals who are sufficiently good engineers to design an aeroplane, capable enough mechanics to build it, and a good enough pilot to fly it. I've met three (all FW, I don't know if there's anybody nowadays in the Rotary world thus placed as aircraft get more complex) and they are all very remarkable people - it is nice to know that they can exist.
G