BCY
The techniques you speak of, like many we still teach in piston singles, were perfectly valid while teaching in Tigers during the War.
Did you learn to fly with the guy in the hangar next door to you?
Seriously - old mate is correct when he says
what about the other 4 hours I have just flown across 600nm of desert or ocean.
The guy was on climb for a skydiving operation, not "in the circuit". If he ****** up the glide approach it had nothing to do with his normal circuit habits.