A sure sign of senility is the belief that everything is really just a repeat. That being said, this whole thread is remarkably like:
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...light=downwind
As I posted in the past, downwind is not a horrible, deathly, stupid thing to do, in fact, under some cirumstances it is the only thing to do, and modern helicopters are designed to do it well. Attack helicopters, rescue helicopters and others need excellent power margins and powerful yaw control because they regularly fly, approach and hover downwind.
Here is a simple poster that says it all:
http://safety.army.mil/pages/media/pubs/ff/windsock.pdf
This does not mean that a PPH should run right out and start the habit, just that he/she should appreciate that many things called gospel in early years (don't play with electricity, don't cross the street, don't kiss girls) are artifacts of the restricted world of the newly initiated.