Is that 'common practice on the fleet' officially endorsed, or a habit that has crept in over the years?
If such a 'special procedure' requires a C/B to have been pulled - and I agree that such a practice is virtually unheard of in modern aircraft these days - surely the pre-landing checklist would have been developed to 'double check' the landing gear position?
After a Hercules fatal accident in the early 1990s, the AOC stated that specialist training should be conducted within a disciplined training environment (i.e. an OCU) rather than through on-the-job training at sqn level. I wonder whether this lesson has now been relearned.
I was also taught years ago that any sensible pilot also conducts his/her own private 'gear, flaps, clearance, toes off' check prior to landing. Shouldn't be necessary, but if you grew up with it on the JP it stayed for life.