Must say I'm with Ghengis on the curvy patterns - quicker, safer, and very easy to spot all the other traffic. Mind you that could just be the superior brainwashing skills of UAS QFIs : ) Also concur on the silliness of run & break arrivals in a busy civvy environment in a piston single.
M14P's broader point is a valid one, I feel. Having spent plenty of a PPL course trucking round a square circuit the fact that as the circuit gets busier it almost always gets larger is to my mind a real problem. Cross-country style downwinds ensue, and all the previously highlighted issues surface. Jude - do you imply a square circuit is desirable simply because 152s are high-wing? And why do so many studes not get taught to keep patterns tight and simply go around again if they get baulked? Sorry to sound narky but some of the bomber circuits flown at my local club recently have caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth on my part.
[This message has been edited by RoughRunning (edited 24 April 2001).]