Genghis, I have no doubt that you are highly qualified, and that your work is demanding. But I don't think that it has much to do with
flying different aircraft types, which was the subject of the thread.
This experience is entirely equivalent to flying solo in terms of flying experience, albeit clearly different.
Try and tell that to the licensing authorities! The above reminds me of the line in Cheech and Chong's movie,
Up In Smoke: "I don't know, man; if we're gonna all wear uniforms, then we should all wear something different, man."
it's a pretty poor instructor who allows a student to "ride along" as you put it
Agreed. My point was simply that a student has an instructor to bail him (or her) out, and so does not have the responsibility (or glory, such as it is) of truly flying the aircraft ... even if the instructor never lays a hand on the controls.