"Why oh why oh why do people take away the safety net of being able to glide to a perfectly good runway? Especially at night? Do they really believe it will never happen to them? Why should I be forced to expose myself to additional risk on those days when bomber circuits are being flown?"
But IF you turn a base leg in the normal position without descending, cross to the deadside then go crosswind and subsequently downwind you DON'T expose yourself to the same risk of his/her bomber circuit. If you need to extend for spacing, do it upwind not downwind and announce it on the R/T. This has the advantage of breaking the chain of subsequent long downwind legs by aircraft following and YOU should still be able to reach the airfield power off.
