flying on attitude
A question for the instructors (or anyone with an interest). Does anyone as a rule teach students how to fly in the circuit pattern with absolutely minimal, if any, reference to their instruments (including airspeed indicator)? This was something I encountered another instructor doing because he believed the student spent too much time 'inside'. For someone who has a lot of hours in an aeroplane but is struggling with the 'feel' for flying it, I might be able to see the value in such an exercise, but in this case where the student was totally unfamiliar with the aeroplane and had relatively few hours in total I remain to be educated.
The reason I ask is that it was a very senior instructor/testing officer teaching this, and it is something I have only ever encountered in the realm of 'competition' circuits previously. It also seems to me that on a gusty day, or with other adverse conditions, a lot could go wrong with such a method just as it could if you were to fixate on the 6 pack, but not wanting to deprive my students of any potentially useful instructional tool I am looking for some insight (short of actually asking the guy of course).