Tony,
I guess I am lazy, I fly a tight tight circuit and if i'm on my own and theres no one ahead then i'll chop the thottle and glide from abeam the downwind numbers, delighting from the joy of kissing the numbers and taxiing off at exit 1. It saves time, its quieter and you get loads of circuits per hour (and being constantly s*** scared of the inevitable engine failure I take every chance I can to practise glide approaches). And other than noise abatement why should we land any other way?
If the guy ahead goes so far out I feel uncomfortable I'll cut in (politely) or more likely go around.
Being in glide range of the airfield (or a good alternative) at all times makes me feel better. I'm not sure whether that affects glide or powered approach argument.
Pilot DAR,
I think you may have nailed the argument. However its just as hard to teach a 2 mile final with power as it is to teach a glide approach.
Last edited by 18greens; 2nd December 2007 at 09:22.