Photos are better than nothing but they do not give the history of the airfield.
Tim got me thinking there about these ex WW 2 airfields and there is a debt of repect owed to the part they all played in the war.
I wonder how many airfields actually have a history of their past somewhere where visitors can see it, I cannot remember ever flying into one that has. As this is off thread I will post a seperate thread in Private Flying.

I didnt start the Wellesbourne thing by the way it was 10540 who mentioned Stapleford and Wellesbourne as being a free for all in the circuit!

Back to the thread - we teach square circuits. although there are many advantages of oval, as discussed on this thread, for our high wing aircraft the view in the turn is poor/non existent for spotting aircraft and the runway and so we keep it to a minimum by making square circuits.
KK

Old Buckenham has an excellent well kept exterior memorial to the missing US airmen and also some interesting WW2 photographs in the clubhouse.
Also do marvellous food,if you can manage the 16 oz 100% steak Mustang burger you are a better man than me!
Lister:)

Been planning to go there for a while! :ok:

The original posted question was re "two tightish 90-degree turns".

I'd say that overshooting the turn to final is worse. At such point one tends to forget about stall-speed ratio vs bank angle, eyes away from the panel while banking too steeply at low speed.

Never do that in a Cub. :\

At the risk of getting flamed, are you considering the behavioural angle? A circuit with four legs at right angles neatly segments the workload and decision making into four phases with no overlap should you choose not to have any.

It also makes the traffic management (we do have six in the circuit on weekends, and since its parallel runways there are contra rotating circuits.) somewhat easier, especially with newer students.

I suggest that when the going gets slightly tough, like landing with a crosswind on an unfamiliar airstrip after a bumpy and long flight, the four phases of the circuit help to focus on the task at hand and hopefully not miss anything, especially for low time pilots like me.

I've made a few circular approaches ( gliding approaches) and while they are fun to do on a familiar field, I'm not so sure I'd like to try it in an unfamiliar location, like this one.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a16...1/DSC02404.jpg

In the air, that's true. But a FISO has the authority to positively control traffic on the ground. Quite whether this includes controlling access to the runway or not seems unclear.

Quite clear to me, SSD:
From Lasors