I agree with you all, but it's not so easy in practice...
We've seen here the arguments about carb heat but in the end it would be better to teach one option consistantly.
Yes, but who is to decide that option?
If it's going to be "the powers that be" who teach the FI courses, we need something that will apply across all aircraft and all airfields - and that won't really work for circuit procedures for a start; I'm not even sure it'll work for use of carb heat.
OK, so maybe it should be each CFI. Well, I don't know if my experiences are typical, but I've so far instructed part time, both at small "one-man" type of flying schools. In neither have I had much feedback on precisely how to teach each exercise. The first CFI was an unsatisfactory individual anyway, so we'll leave him out of this. The second tends to trust me, and leave me to get on with it - I'm an instructor, after all, is his attitude. If I ask him how to teach anything in particular, he'll tell me. But I don't ask exactly where he turns base in the circuit, or even precisely how he teaches take-offs. For the latter, I didn't even know there was more than one way of doing it; I taught the way I'd learned. I only realised when one student complained about being taught things two different ways!
Now, this CFI is a good guy and an excellent instructor, and when I pointed out the problem we decided we'd need to do something about it. But short of going over the whole syllabus, how?
So yes, I agree with all you said, MJ, but how are we going to change things in practice?