MLS-12,
Not sure I agree. Despite what people will make you believe, a turbine/turboprop or turbojet engine is fairly easy to operate. Large Piston aren't quite so easy..Less automatics and so on.
rightly or wrongly, such experience impresses people, including insurers,
Again, I dont agree, and It wouldnt impress me much -I'd much rather have a pilot known for his piston engined handling skills than a turboprop or jet airline guy (many of their 1000's of hours spent drinking coffee on the flight deck whilst the aircraft does its own thing on autopilot
) , and in the UK at least, I believe the insurers would much rather insure an aircraft if a pilot who had 1000's of hours on
similar types was flying.