On 2007-07-12 11:38:43 -0700, Dudley Henriques said:


When I began soloing, my instructor forbade me to engage in any low-
altitude
maneuvering on final approach (e.g. 360s for spacing, which the tower
sometimes called for). He explained clearly that any such request from
ATC
should be met with "Unable, student pilot, going around", followed by
a
standard go-around. I think that's an excellent policy for students
until
they have extensive solo-landing experience.

I would respectfully disagree with this line of reasoning from an
instructor and would never recommend this or condone this procedure
from any instructor within shouting distance of my voice :-)
The entire purpose of teaching people to fly airplanes is to teach them
to operate safely within a constantly changing dynamic. This means both
the aerodynamic AND the ATC dynamic.
Students learning to fly in a controlled traffic environment are not
well served by instructors who encourage them to deny an ATC request as
a routine procedure based on the fact that the pilot is a student.

Besides, as Rod Machado so infamously pointed out, your credibility as
a student pilot starts to wear a little thin when you are calling ATC
from a 747. :-)

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor