WWW I stayed out of this thread 'til now because I don't use VOR/DME etc at all (the a/c I fly has none...) but.....X-channel as a student?
There was an article in Flyer by a fairly well known instructor that made the point that as a morale booster and in the right circumstances and timing it is a superb exercise. "Why am I spending all this money to learn to fly?" ..... trip to calais/Le2K ...."of course, THATS why I'm spending all this money!!"
This particular QFI does a lot of x-channel check-outs, so has no need to manufacture jollys.
An open mind can be a good thing, even perhaps for a very experienced instructor.
Slip