Concerning "check rides", isn't this getting a bit over the top? These are required by clubs and insurance companies, not the CAA. Some pilots are very rusty after a month; some - especially if they've been flying for years and years and have loads of experience - probably not. Some were never much good in the first place. Some could do with an instructor correcting their bad habits anyway. But LEGALLY all of these things are irrelevant. the CAA says they can all fly so long as they do 12 hours in two years plus....etc etc etc. If they own their own aircraft, they can do just that. So while it may be good and desirable and sensible for pilots to do regular flying with an instructor, that has nothing whatsoever to do with whether it's legal for them to do a "check" with a non-instructor, or who can distinguish between rustiness and a pilot who shouldn't be flying. And I'm an instructor, and can therefore do checkrides, and I'm damned sure I wouldn't be able to tell the difference in all cases.
