For the private pilot course I did not teach instructor instrument flying until just before the solo cross county. This was to maintain the importance of looking out the windshield and using the natural horizon as the pilots solo reference for determining the attitude of the aircraft.

Since there was a possibility of getting stuck in low vis or worse in cloud during the solo cross country I wanted to make sure the student had the skills to escape.

Any instructor who does a pre solo lesson in weather that does not allow full control of the aircraft by visual means alone is IMO doing the student a grave dis-service.

wiggy, thanks for the heads up, apologise to everyone.

Having re-read the BEA report, I should have referred to the C Chord altitude alarm and not as I did the ground proximity warning. I still don't like the term "pull up, pull up" in any circumstance though. Works with auto-throttles but again can cause a mishap if the auto throttle is dis-armed.