Do you need a ground school refresher?

http://www.goldsealflight.com/training/

ASFA's Pilot Proficiency Program is a good place to start for new private pilots and for those who may be a bit rusty or ... take a look at the syllabus and see for yourself whether there are any gaps in your knowledge or skills: http://www.asfa.org.au/files/ASR_GPPP_Course_Introduction_Whats_it_all_about.pdf

Along with that, go to Rich Stowell's website and buy his book on Emergency Maneuver Training and the video on Stall / Spin Awareness. Order his new book - The Light Airplane Pilot's Guide to Stall/Spin Awareness - Featuring the PARE Spin Recovery Checklist. http://www.richstowell.com/shop.htm

The next stop is a deeper understanding of flight mechanics and how aircraft really behave - download the briefing papers at: http://www.flightlab.net/index.html

I don't expect anyone to absorb all of that quickly and you'll probably need to do some associated flying to embed the knowledge and develop the skills that you need to survive. The final question is - what flying do you need to achieve your objectives?

All aerobatic pilots are aware of metal fatigue so this is just some additional information on some practical aspects of fatigue management.

Pilots of Airtourers, CT-4's and Zlins would be aware of safe lives - throw the airframe away once its got that many hours.

Decathlon pilots should be aware of a need to record time doing aerobatics. One Airworthiness Directive which requires this is AD/CHA/15:

"Retire the wing front strut assembly ... from service ... before achieving 1100 aerobatic flying hours. Note: The hours are those actually spent in aerobatic flight and do not include positioning time."

That is a very specific statement worth repeating and considering what it means - time actually spent in aerobatic flight. It does not include time spent climbing between aerobatic manouvres nor time spent letting your stomach recover nor time spent pottering along looking for other traffic. Aerobatic flight means aerobatic flight, a specific definition which does not include flying straight and level or medium turns or climbing and descending. So, if you spend an hour in the aeroplane from Moorabbin you are likely to spend only 0.1 or 0.2 hrs actually in aerobatic flight. To record an hour of aerobatic flight results in needlessly throwing away an expensive strut long before it needs to be.

More later .....