Well sorry to disappoint with my lack of GA experience, but until recently I’d never flown a square circuit. My flying started in the RAF, and all I was ever taught were oval circuits. Madlandrover is right in describing my route to my ATPL; a few hours in a Seneca, and the only circuits we did were oval and seemed quite familiar. Strange as it seems looking back at it, I seem to recall both the instructors I flew with at my IR school taught the same circuit pattern, and were able to tell me what power and attitude to set, to give the required performance at the appropriate stage. And yes of course as a QSP I flew at civilian airports. But the location did not change the way I flew my aircraft, unless the pattern had to change to cope with local restrictions which are as common at military bases as civilian airports.
Sorry, Genghis, if I gave you the impression that I was giving ‘trouble with this stuff’. Actually, the only difficulty I am having is understanding the lack of standardisation between my instructors. Reading back over this thread I’m beginning to understand that lack of standardisation; it sems that everyone does/teaches their own thing.
I don’t believe that this is an RAF/civvy difference of approach; with both of the airlines I have flown with there is only black and white about the SOPs for visual circuits or anything else for that matter. Indeed, the procedures are far more prescriptive that I was used to in the RAF. So I conclude this is just a GA thing; perhaps for good reason Genghis, as you pointed out the other traffic is all over the shop so one just has to cope.
Out of curiosity, if you fly within a student who does things ‘differently’ to the way you like, is she wrong, or merely exercising flexibility and therefore to be encouraged?