After all many flying instructors do not have that much more experience that the average PPL. It's just the next link in the road to becoming an airline pilot. Unlike your good self most of these people could not care less if you become a better pilot. It's a job - not a well paid job I hasten to add - and I don't envy the way they have to sit around in a ridiculous uniform watching day time TV without being paid on days in which the weather is unsuitable for flying.
Yes, I agree with this statement. It does not need to be a slight on anyone, it is just a reality. A small part of the responsibility of students and new pilots is to satisfy themselves that they are flying in the company of (particularly when paying) instructors who have enough experience to be able to pass along new wisdom. It is downright unfiar and pointless to insist that a current, recent low time licensed pilot be "checked out" by an instructor with only slightly more experience, when there are no changed operational elements to warrant it.
I have many stories of instructors trying to "check me out" during test flights (Modification, not licensing), where I have had to take them along because of "club rules". It did not take too long before they just sat quietly. Everyone has something to learn. The trick is to know when to shut up and listen.
Other checkouts I've had, where it was an entirely new type to me, and were planned for an hour or so of procdeures and airwork, have rapidly turned into only one circuit, which ended with my being asked "any questions about the plane?". "Not that come to me right now.". "Okay, you're checked out, off you go. Those were typically very experienced chief pilot types, not line instructors.
As for "the look", it's out there on the faces of more experienced pilots who can be found around the club. It's like the look you give your teenagers in the presence of their freinds. It attempts to convey "well, that is not really a very good, or mature idea, but it's not bad enough that I'm going to embarrass you in front of your friends about. If I remember, I'll discuss it with you later". It's along the lines of "if you haven't somethng nice to say, don't say anything"!
Many "experienced" pilots shudder with amazement at the fact that newly licesned pilots, particularly those with their own plane, who really are not being supervised much, launch off into the next adventure, having so much to learn. But then we remind ourselves that we did too, and we're still here! That said, many of my freinds are not. A freind with six times my flying time was fatally injured a few weeks back during a crash. I will not attempt to second guess him.
If you're flying a "check out", it's probably fair that the check pilot see two circuits (just to assure that the first was not just lucky). I suggest that it is a weak agrument to suggest that you are not willing to pay for this - it's part of the cost of extablishing yourself in aviation, we all had to pay it. Beyond that, if they insist on more flying, I would ask to discuss and understand the objectives (so you can be properly prepared, and reduce the costly airtime of the check flight).
While preparing to pick up a 182 out west last April, the insurer ask me if I was going to get a checkout from the owner. I explained that he was selling the plane, because in the last year he had only flown 5 hours, and none in the last 5 months. Would the insurer
want me being checked out by him? They agreed, and that was the end of that. (Don't worry, I have lots of time on 182's)
For some pilots, flying will evolve to the point where if you want a checkout, you'll have to go looking for it - I do. Otherwise, hardly anyone is going to tell you you have to have it. Most likely will be an insurer, but based upon their skill, and your experience on similar types, they may not even ask. That does not mean it would not be wise! With sevral thousand hours, I decided to check myself out on a Tomahawk I had to ferry back(there was no one around who'd flown one anyway). Mistake! I did not bang it, but I quickly realized that at least a briefing and some research would have been a good idea, and I would have looked pretty foolish if I had banged it!
Take heart, we're not trying to insult or demean you. Try not to resist too much, the attempts of the
experienced pilots, to help you along toward a long safe flying career.