The chinese whispers thing is certainly true, and it's easy to see how that can give rise to and perpetuate furphies.
Have things changed since the 'old days' though? Is becoming an instructor to build hours immediately after CPL anything new, and if not, aren't these issues just the same now as then?
I guess 30-40 years ago there were wartime veterans in the system and people who'd been taught directly by same, but that would have filtered out by now as the old fellas dropped off the twig - what other factors are causing change I wonder? Not challenging the point per se but just thinking out loud.