Lostconcern, I hear what you're saying about bucking the system but who is an airline going to call; someone with 500 hrs who knows how to bulid a radio or someone who has 10,000 hrs of experience? It just seems silly that one needs to complete all of the tests to do what one has been doing for years.
Example: a pilot with an FAA ticket can fly an "N" registerd A/C in the UK, based in the UK but can't fly a "G" registered A/C. I don't get it, is there some incredible difference between the A/C? Do they fly differently because of the different letter?
LDD