Arm-out of-window.
Interesting posts. In the early Sixties the RAAF had Viscounts and Convair Metropolitans in the VIP squadron. They were not on the civil register. The pilots had Green Card RAAF instrument ratings. There was no need to have a civil instrument rating nor a civil licence. In any case the flight test for both RAAF and civil instrument rating were almost identical.
I remember having a DCA Examiner in the jump seat observing my instrument rating renewal in a Viscount. He commented that it was a more thorough check than he had seen in his civil world and awarded me a civil instrument rating on the basis of his observations.
It was short lived however. He received a terrific boot up the arse from his superiors in DCA Head Office because he had stepped over the line being only a miserable lower class GA Examiner and not a superior upper class RPT Examiner. This was because the Viscount was an "RPT" type.
The GA Examiner's name was "Freddy" Fox. He died many years back. DCA immediately down graded my precious First Class instrument rating to Second Class rating only.
The next day I flew the Governor General to New Zealand in a Viscount - regardless of a lousy Second Class instrument rating by DCA standards.
I think its a wonderful idea having RAAF crews flying with
VB for 737 experience. After all, it was only 25 years ago that my old airline Air Nauru helped out Ansett crews at no cost by giving them left seat ICUS on the early Boeing 737's. The Ansett pilots were made most welcome and a good bunch they were, too.
No one bitched that we knew of- but then Pprune wasn't born then...