Well, I spent just over a year on the jet and I've spent almost 6 months now at Cape. I suppose what it comes down to is how you define "better." I definitely feel stronger in stick-and-rudder and instrument scan than when I was on the ERJ, but my mind doesn't get as big a workout. The 402 takes a lot less planning than the jet. Having learned how to plan things out in an airplane that doesn't go down and slow down at the same time helped me out immensely transitioning back to something that does <200 knots. I've found while flying single-pilot IFR, having had that jet experience has made me feel much less task saturated than if I would have gone from a CFI job to Cape. Coming from the ERJ has also made me much smoother on the controls, and having had to discipline myself to only make 5% N1 changes at a time on approach, I tend to only make small power changes in this plane as well.

Not to mention, my style as PIC is taken very much from the good captains I flew with at XJT. I learned a lot from those guys, and I'm glad I can apply it here everyday. I can also make the weather radar do what I want, which is a nice skill to have when dealing with these POS monochrome displays. That was something I also picked up at XJT.

So, in my experience, one job complements the other in some way. I'm sure if/when I take recall back to XJT I'll take some great experiences back there from my current job. But, I think a lot of people get wrapped around the axle about "real flying" vs. flying 121. It's all good flying, and it all provides some sort of challenge that the other type of flying may not have.