FNG,
Firstlt, my posting was'nt a wind-up.
Secondly, I should make it clear that the point I was trying to make is that the holders of PPL licenses who LEGALLY cannot gain financial reward from flying aeroplanes are not helping people who are trying to make a living in GA.
To use an analogy, how would you feel if I set up a business as a barrister (with no qualifications in this field whatsoever) and started pinching business from you.
The examples of instructors you gave in your reply were, to say the least, extreme. At NO TIME did I suggest that all 'grandfather rights' BCPL holders were lacking competence or knowledge. Some of these people that I know are good instructors, but it does'nt hide or compensate for the fact that they are not really proper commercial pilots. To get back to my earlier point, It's like me becoming a barrister without going to university! Thats how silly the situation is!
Your man with 4000 hours and 40 types is NOT necessarily a safer pilot or better instructor and it would be foolish and naive to think that he is. Yes, he is probably more experienced than most pilots, but then again so were the pilots that flew the B727 into the mountains on Tenerife!
And as for the hours builders you mentioned, if one of them is on a B737, then he must have SAT and PASSED the ATPL exams and commercial flight tests - so whats your point ?????
The point I was making in my orogional posting is that it is difficult to justify allowing a group of people to fly professionally when they are not qualified professionally.
Here endeth the lesson.