During my initial IR training (granted, this was 20+ years ago), the very FIRST approaches I was trained to do were non-precision-NDB, VOR - also with circling approaches thrown in for fun. Later on, these were done also at night and in actual wx (fog, light rain)...sometimes down to minimums.
THEN, I moved onto precision approaches, including back course localizer.
On the advice of my instructors, and my examiner, I kept current on ALL approaches either in the airplane with an instructor/safety pilot, OR, booked some time with an instructor in a FRASCA - I completed my 'recurrent' training every 60 days, and kept that up for years.
This was all part 91 before I started flying part 135. Expensive - a little bit...but a heck of lot cheaper than making a hole in the ground! Has training changed THAT much in the past 20 years??
