smail- "late downwind" may not be in the book, but surely we can put this under the heading of airmanship? common sense shouldn't go out of the window just because of what is written down, and if I hav not managed to get my call in, either someone is waffling to much, or the traffic is so busy that we need to have as good an idea as possible where everyone is!
I also know about the join in the states,but i'm not teaching there, and I always point out to my students that if they fly in any other country they need to know the rules for where they are flying.
[This message has been edited by ianh (edited 19 December 1999).]