BEagle,
Many, many thanks. I was hoping someone like you would do something like that.
I'm pretty sure that in the case of my AME at least, it was ignorance rather than avarice. We had a fairly heated argument on the subject of students. He was saying that it's entirely illogical to say that pre-solo students are members of the crew. I don't know what logic has to do with aviation law, personally! But what really worried me was that he phoned the CAA, and whoever he spoke to was someone whom he invariably trusts to give him the correct answers. And she also said instructors needed six-monthly medicals!!! I wish I'd asked who it was, but anyway, maybe you can get it through the CAA's collective heads that such people need to know their own rules.