Sandy, I'm afraid the regulators view of holding the proper license goes back a long way, Len Diprose was the chief pilot of Australian National Airways during the '30's and the first pilot to get a rating on the DC-3 in Australia, prior to the war he became chief pilot of Associated Airlines which was BHP's executive transport flying the Lockheed 12, when they moved up to a Heron they had to get ATPL's, which some of the company pilots found a tough gig. Similarly a chap by the name of Johnny Robbins, he flew New Guinea for Guinea Airways during the '30's, during the war he captained the airlines DC-3's on routes around Australia, post war the department introduced the requirement for an ATPL, not having the education, having left school at about 12 years of age, he didn't have the necessary education and was relegated to the right hand seat until retirement flying the airlines South Australia routes, as a teenager he invited me up front on the CV440 and offered a piece of advice, make damn sure you get an education.