I am a +200 hour instructor and I just wanted to make a few points..
1. Students will in most cases get what they pay for. The standard of instructors whether it be a 200 hour of 3000 hour one will dpeend a lot on the company which they work at. The larger, dare I say it "commercial" schools who may charge more have a much more standardised training approach, along with regular checks for the instructors themselves.
2. Instructor Ratings are not just handed to us on a silver platter, nor are our CPL's, ATPL subjects, IREX, MECIR's etc. We do actually have to perform to obtain them, to the same standard (if not higher) then has always been required. Again the larger schools now tend to use outside ATO's to ensure that the standard is there.
3. We are well aware that we don't have the experience of someone with 3000hrs. We have not faced the same amount of weather senarios, mech problems, emergencies, nor have we probably flown to the same amount of airports and so on. It is quite amazing how often you learn something new and learn something from your students. However having said that, we are constantly tested to ensure we can teach what we are required to by CASA and if we couldn't we simply wouldn't have a job. We may still be learning too but we aren't just "saftey pilots" as quoted above. We are quite capable of teaching someone how to fly S&L, Nav and so on.
4. If CASA were to put a mimimum 750 for a G3 rating then I pose the question, where on earth would we all get 750 hours from exactly?? Even now a charter company, up north won't take you with at least 500, a skydiving one requires at least 350 and there aren't enough station jobs now, imagine if there were 1000's more new CPL holders a year. The G3 IR is, I feel a fantastic learning curve for new pilots, that provides them with skills they will carry through their entire career, it also clears away the excess pilots..
Simply, we try to do the best we can everyday. We won't hide the fact that we don't want to be an Instructor as a career. I imagine 90% of the pilots on this board aim to be up the pointy end of a jet by the end of their career. It doesn't mean we don't care about our students though, it doesn't mean we don't care about saftey, it doesn't mean we go to work every day and make no effort and it doesn't mean that we lack common sense. It just means we are using this as a stepping stone to bigger and better things one day down the track.
To the more experienced pilots out there - we know what our experience levels are and we know what we can etach our students. We aren't as useless and stupid as you may like to think we are.
stormy