hogan you are right.....if you go by the Table 4.10 and the welder qualified on plate. Regardless of whether I feel the code is right or wrong in this situation, you have to go with what it says. The Note "c" listed in the Pipe welded in production column says nothing under 24", however they did include the 24" dimn in the 2006 revision which was a step in the right direction.
Like I said earlier, I don't see any difference in welding a 1G on plate vs welding a 1G rotated pipe as long as you stay on the upper most portion of the pipe while welding(+/- 15* from parallel to the ground) like Figure 4.4(A) shows, but they stuck Note "c" in Table 4.10 which says even that is a no-no.