What was the average number of flights a pilot conducted before getting killed? Don't need much training for that
I think for many of these pilots many, many flights, and.... no death!
I have known many pilots who have been trained not just to fly a 'plane, but to understand flying planes more generally, so that self checkouts are safe and practical.
I have self checked out on many types, and the only one of those which caught my attention was the Tomahawk, I was too cavalier with it. It was okay, it was me not respecting it. Once I respected it, we were both fine!
I will never criticize a pilot who seeks a checkout, that's always a good idea. However, anyone presenting themselves as an instructor on that class of aircraft should be able to safely self checkout if they need to. Fair enough that they might take an hour, and a few circuits to get comfortable, but these 'planes are not difficult to fly if you've read the flight manual, and apply some of your experience to the task.