Indeed, I was talking to an FAA Examiner a week or two back and he stated that the FAA are contemplating requiring a type rating for G1000 equipped aircraft.
The local FBO require a G1000 Ground class and a minimum of 5 hours training before letting anybody loose.
I don't know why a G1000 would need a type rating. If you learned on old instruments, then the G1000 is a piece of cake, once you know which buttons to press. If you learned on a G1000, then you have enough money to never bother flying anything else
For the record, the FAA have just classed the DA42 as a "complex ME" as per any other MEP's, i.e. no TR required, it is "the same as all the rest". So in FAA land you can indeed do a ME rating in a G1000 Twin Star and then go on to fly a Seneca for example (or try).
BTW, comparing peacetime attitudes to risk with war-time ones is bizarre
Was not comparing at all. It was just an interesting story of how it used to be in times past. And if you read the book, you would quite likely not want to be put in that position.