It gives me the willies to see SEPs doing a 3 degree approach at Kidlington. I was in an aircraft doing just that at Kidlington once and the approach was over woods with no alternative should the donk quit. I raised it with the pilot, an instructor, after the flight and his basic response was`Our engine is regularly serviced and replaced every 2000 hours, it cannot fail.`I did not proceed with the conversation.
On the few times I have flown in the RAF Tutors I work with, the circuit is probably tight enough on the downwind leg to get in but I doubt that you would by the time you turn onto the crosswind leg and some power is used all the way down.
In my Motorglider, when possible, the circuit is kept tight enough to get in from any point and `circuit power` is maintained until a point is reached where the engine is throttled right back and forgotten about. The approach is then controlled with a combination of attitude and airbrake. If you get it right, you effectively pull virtually all the airbrake and leave it there. If you are going `long` you can just stick the nose down a bit. With those big paddles the speed doesn`t build up much and is soon bled off once you raise the nose. Alternatively, you can feed in more and more brake as you descend, keeping the airspeed constant. This method is surely applicable to an aircraft fitted with flaps. Start your approach clean and aiming long then feed in flap as you get closer and safer.
Who am I to say? I`m only an amateur.
Mike W