James,
I understand your point of view, but I think we're going to have to disagree.
There is no valid reason why an instructor cannot teach this element of a lost procedure.
Even though I'm not an instructor, I wouldn't make such a bold claim. Perhaps some instructors decide to prioritise other things, perhaps some students never get the chance to do this particular exercise for whatever reason (D&D being busy, whatever), perhaps their instructor feels that their student is perfectly capable of using that particular service without having to demonstrate first... even though I understand it takes only a few minutes, and it's probably a good idea to give it a go at some point during the instruction, surely if it was that critical it would have been made a compulsory part of the syllabus?
The UK has some of the busiest airspace in the world and remote area's
A common assertion, but again one has to disagree, especially from the point of view of GA, which in the UK hardly ever mixes with CAT. GA flying in the UK is basically getting from A to B low and slow while avoiding controlled airspace, which is the equivalent of taking a car on the back roads and trying not to drive the wrong way. Seriously basic stuff--if people can't get that right, surely we have a big problem which I'm not sure D&D can help much with.
And a remote area is where you have to carry survival gear, along with your own tools and spares, because if you go down nobody is going to come to pick you up. There are no such areas in the UK.
Gasil's and occurance data reports are real incidents, so I cannot see how you can call them amusing
Because a lot of the CAA stuff is written like they're addressing an eight year-old. It's also, in the cases where there is anything of substance, often a rehash of AAIB reports/recommendations without further analysis or commentary.
New PPL'ers 'sometimes' do not have polished airmanship and RT skills
Yes, I know. It's a well-known fact that given enough money any monkey can get a licence, but that's another discussion.
If your not an instructor, you probably have not had the resposibility of sending students on a solo cross country
That's correct and I can see how you wouldn't want the students to keep getting lost all over the country, I fully agree with that, but I do not recognise a practise PAN as being such a critical element of instruction. After all, there are many other things which are just as important and yet it appears they're not being taught properly--filling out flight plans, researching AIPs, proper online briefing, map and approach plate reading, correct use of GPS... those are all little things which help people stay out of trouble just as much, yet I do not hear too many rants from people calling their instructors incompetent for not having taught them that. What is your opinion on this point, being yourself an instructor?