Thank you very much for your replies.
Capt PB, I think that the very fact that, in the European environment, the rarity of a circling approach is why it has been included as a regular item - but as you so rightly say, we don't have the facilities to practice it properly in the simulator and we have to 'willingly suspend our disbelief' in order to complete the manoeuvre.
Tinstaafl, we do in fact carry out A/C training at the end of our sim course - we don't have zero-flight time in our Company - and it's interesting that this training consists entirely of circling approaches, which are invariably flown well! In fact, since 1985 I have only sent one person back for further training after an A/C training session, and this was entirely due to inexperience, not inability. Conversely, I find myself having to repeat circling approaches in the sim with people who then fly visual circuits perfectly in 'real life'.
It's negative training, and would be far better remaining in the 'practise' arena rather than being a major test. In order to keep the confidence of pilots, a training/checking system must be believable and appropriate. This test strikes me as being counter -productive.
[This message has been edited by Buzzoff (edited 13 November 2000).]