None of you understand do you. Gold Bars are vital in any FTO whether PPL or commercial. It is impossible to be taken seriously as an instructor without the appropriate amount of Gold Bars, and possibly in the better schools, some scrambled egg on your hat. I have seen no instructors with those nice bits of gold string like they use for curtain ties, but I'm sure I must have been looking the wrong way.
Without some suitable badge of office how is the average trainee to distinguish a seasoned instructor from the hoi poloi (unless of course there is a local lake or swimming pool across which they can walk)
I'm all for Gold badges, as it means we lesser mortals can treat the warer with the appropraite amount of defferance!
Similarly in behoves every would be top gun C152 driver to ware a number of badges on the flying suit or jacket. There is no truth in the rumour that the numebr of badges is inversaly proprotional to the skill of the warer.
Perhaps someone else would like to comment on the appropraite salute for a gold bar waring instructor.