Must be a cheeseland thing. On this side of the lake we can actually figure out how to stay in one area.
No need to pick on my state. It's not a "cheeseland" thing. I did my commercial training in Iowa. As far as
actually figuring out how to stay in one area, I'm not saying it's the
only way to do it. Are you implying that you don't agree that it's
one way to do it?
Both DE's never said anything about using a crosswind when doing the Chandelle, and I said "we enter on downwind..."
Because a DE didn't say it was wrong, all other options are automatically wrong? Or vice versa... if the DE said it was right, would that make all other options automatically not right?
Why not throw fuel on the fire... Consider that "maximum performance" could be judged partly by climb angle, which will be steeper into the wind. So under the same set of conditions (a certain entry airspeed, power setting, etc.) you will have a steeper climb angle upwind than downwind. Most of your altitude is gained in the first half of the maneuver, so it makes sense to start on a crosswind heading and turn into the wind. Since the maneuver completes a 180-degree turn, you also maximize your time exposed to a headwind this way, and voilà - you just climbed as steeply as possible in a given chunk of sky.
Guess what though. The Airplane Flying Handbook just mentions maximum climb
rate and no one cares about angle. Maybe that's just me and my imaginary "box canyon" idea. I think the angle thing and the "less drift" idea are one in the same, which is probably why my school taught it.
My point is that there is no right way to enter this maneuver, as far as I know, so it's a matter of preference or convenience. I was just taught the crosswind thing and it makes the most sense to me. As far as the downwind entry idea, that is fine too. It's not a "must" though. Downwind entries are for ground reference maneuvers, and the chandelle isn't a ground reference maneuver -- it's a performance maneuver like a steep turn. This also shows that my maximum climb angle idea isn't important, either, because I repeat: it's not a ground reference maneuver, even though you do look outside at a few ground references.
Your DE's not going to say you're wrong for your choice Ed, because you aren't. When I entered on crosswind with my commercial and CFI DEs, they didn't say I was wrong either.
What's wrong with being above 8,000?
Nothing. I was just picking some random number to illustrate that the TB20 climbs fast. We'd usually go up to 8,500-ish as a maximum before we'd come back down. It's arbitrary.
It's probably as arbitrary as debating how to enter a chandelle... so, now I'm done. My two cents.
**Hopefully has explained herself, and looks forward to flying later today.**
) either. 
