A few years back, undergoing a checkride in the Supercub with an instructor of renown, he presented me with not a dead engine, but a sick one, at 3,000' over Banbury... 7 nautical miles to our home airfield at Shenington (formerly Edgehill).
I figured I had enough height to get back to the airfield even with a sick engine,
but just to be sure, decided NOT to attempt any sort of circuit (or pattern) and as the wind was not strong, about 8 knots, set up a downwind landing which worked nicely. Plenty of height for a straight in approach.
Surprised the instructor, he had expected me to attempt a circuit and run out of height.
Of course a sick engine is more likely to tempt one into a poor decision. A dead engine can present you with no choice at all.