Excellent discussion, guys, with much food for instructional thought. I'm going to work with students more on the "minimum radius" concept from now on. Most students seem to be taught that minimum radius is obtained by adding power / speed and a massive bank angle.
When you think about it, the classical approach-to-landing accidents don't happen because the aircraft is "low, slow and turning"
per se ... they happen because of a failure of control within that regime. It stands to reason therefore that a lot of work should be done in mastering the skills of control therein, instead of the unrealistic tactic of avoiding the regime altogether.
Pilotbear - not to go on a tangent (though isn't that the joy of bulletin boards...
), but have you any opinions on what might be a suitable float configuration for salt water operations. I'm thinking of moving to the seashore, dreaming of a little jetty with say, a cub or 172 on floats parked outside. But is it feasible on salt - corrosion, etc?