whatever that is supposed to mean
indeed!
What a fascinating observation. Perhaps we should go back in history when aircraft like the Canberra bomber was designed and flown as single pilot (navigator down the back) and these pilots flew above 40,000 ft in IMC single handed because there was no autopilot. Yes it's nice to have a copilot to pull the gear up and talk on the radio but just because one is "freelance" (whatever that is supposed to mean)
I guess 'freelancing' means (and I meant) going off on your own, doing a little bit 'extra on the side' off the books.
It's like filing a flight plan, and then taking an un-announced detour. It's like doing foot patrols in Iraq and, keeping the directive to get closer with the locals, chatting with them, getting chummy as one can get separated by 2,000 miles of ocean and 200 years of culture, exceed that directive (and regs) to take food and drink and stop one day when an encouraged stray dog (also against regs to encourage strays) refuse to eat some of the offering and luckily only one of the men get sick and you later find that the shopkeepers family is found with holes in the back of the head the next day <shrug>
I am for hand flying - big time. I am for pilots maintaining basic skills.
That endeavor has to be I feel, within the structure of the full company SOP and with each experience subject to review (an environment best suited for the sim, sure)
Again, this is not an argument against safe vs unsafe, rather "Safe x10" vs "Safe x 9"