That's how the military do it, but it doesn't mean it suits all operations!
The civvy world already has a convention, that of the standard circuit pattern as descibed earlier. The military have their own.
I come from the perspective of someone who teaches the civvy method, but personally flies a constant angle if conditions and traffic permits. Having done this in all manner of machines from a 73 where it was just for fun to the Extra (and soon to be Pitts) where it was a necessity.
No matter what the shape of the circuit, the discussion here is about the size of them that some idiots teach.
Personally we put the stripe helpfully provided on the wing as spacing (PA28, PA38) over the runway or just eyeball it with high wing a/c. It's not rocket science!
We then tramp along downwind until the runway is 45 deg over the shoulder (allowing for drift) and then turn base.
Is that what people want?