Originally Posted by
Blueskies21
If I had a student with a similar problem I'd tell him I thought using towers was a bad idea but if he insisted on it, then I'd let him use towers, get lost, get scared, and then tell him where he was. That way he understands why not to do it. That may not be the right answer but I've had a cocky student or two who just won't believe you know better..till he trys it and can't make his plan work.
After a few thousand hours of instructing this is the exact way to handle this. Let the student get completly lost and lost bad. Be no help. And make it a point to take control of the aircraft point him in the right direction. AND THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO POINT THEM IS BACK HOME!! You end the lesson right there and require them to start over from the beginning another day. I wasnt an instructor that tore in to students often but when you have a "know it all" this is the best way to put them in their place. Just letting them get lost will shock them but making them start planning from scratch and do the flight again the right way leaves a real lasting impression.