keithl
I opened PANS-OPS fully expecting to be able to quote the passage where it said "don't adjust the o/b track", and was just as surprised as you were to find instructions to the contrary.
At the risk of repetition, there are two points I'd make in support of my assertion that it should be interpreted as allowing variation of the o/b track, not just o/b heading:
1) almost identical wording to the requirements for the o/b leg of the hold, where it's obvious that track must be adjusted
2) the risk management aspect that, if you
must be off track soemwhere, it actually makes more sense to be off the outbound leg than off the final approach.
If we do some sums, the result may appear more palatable.
Consider a 3 minute leg on a nominal 070 radial followed by a right turn to intercept the 270 inbound, flown at 120 kt, and a wind of 360/25. The extra width of turn is close to 1/2 mile (25 knots for 68 secs). To compensate for that, an outbound track of approx 065 is required. Double the crosswind to 50 kt and the track compensation required is still only 060.
So we're not talking "triple drift" here, just a few degrees into wind.