70% of all midair collisions occur in and around the airport. I could be heading 360 to land on runway 36 at a given airport. with the OH I would need to complete six 90 degree turns just to get back to where I was!
That is madness in terms of time, cost, pax comfort , extra collision potential. I maybe in a high wing aircraft mixing with low wing aircraft all making these 90 degree turns and all homing in onto one spot above the airfield.
Also consider the OH join is supposed to be at 2000 feet and with the VFR vertically clear of clouds means the OH join can only be legally flown with a cloud base of 2500 to 3000 feet a rare occurrence in our climate .
That is most certainly abused with pilots scud running just below the cloud base way below those stipulations and sometimes even cutting across the downwind circuit height
For me at best it has a limited place but more likely its an out of date method more relevant to a by gone era of non radio aircraft with limited navigation ability
If the OH was so brilliant many other countries would use it but don't
Pace