Ahhhhh - so your previous suggestion
Originally Posted by Flybywyre
The point I am making is that you have exactly the same amount of time to listen out and work out where the other traffic is.
Is next to useless
Whereas
Originally Posted by Footless Halls
You have the same time to LISTEN but much less time to LOOK.
Looking, and the time to look, would be a much more valuable commodity.
I have no problems with base leg joins at airfields with normal, single type (powered) operations. However, the use of a downwind leg at a gliding site to see and assess what is going on in the landing area beforehand (which is something you wouldn't get by joining base) is a much better idea from an airmanship point of view.