Interesting points Ghengis. So even if (if you will excuse me) a CRI is in some ways a lesser rating than an FI an FI doesn’t give you the privileges of a CRI rating should you not meet the instructional hours requirement.
Another thing that seems a little unfair is that I believe to instruct in a simulator for an initial IR requires either an FI or an STI, so in a sense the FI includes the privileges of an STI.
Should my FI have lapsed by more than three years then to obtain an STI would involve regaining my FI rating first, but if I were no longer able to obtain a medical then that would be impossible. No amount of training (say 100 hours or more) in a sim would enable me to get an STI.
Whereas a significantly lapsed STI could be assessed, do some training and a test and be ready to go again.
Forgive me if I am under a misapprehension, but it is quite a long time since I last instructed (just retired from the airlines) and am thinking if coming back to some kind of instructing.