FLC LOST VISUAL REF WITH THE RWY WHILE CIRCLING-TO-LAND FROM A NON-PRECISION APCH.

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WX AT ARPT AND ARSA ARPTS 700-900 BROKEN OR OVCST. VISIBILITY 2-3 MI RAIN; WIND 010 DEGS TO 090 DEG; 25 GUST TO 38 KTS (INS WIND AT 2000 FT MSL 040 DEG AT 66 KTS). A CLOSED LOW WAS MOVING UP THE E COAST. THE TWR WAS CLOSED. THE CREW WAS TIRED (AT THE END OF THE DUTY DAY). THE APCH WAS VIA THE LOC RWY 16 WITH A R CIRCLE TO RWY 9. (RWY 16 IS THE SHORTER OF THE 2 RWYS; AND WOULD HAVE SOME TAILWIND) THE APCH WAS DISCUSSED ENRTE AND PREDEP AND WAS THEN BRIEFED AS DISCUSSED. THE SIC (PNF) HAS OVER 9000 HRS (2000 PLUS IN TYPE) AND USUALLY FLIES AS CAPT ON THIS ACFT. BROKE OUT 100 FT ABOVE MDA. OVERFLEW ARPT AND TURNED R DOWNWIND. FLEW A SHORT DOWNWIND (BASED ON TIME) THEN STARTED A R TURN TO A MODIFIED BASE TO FINAL. (PNF CHARACTERIZED OUR PROGRESS ON DOWNWIND TURNING BASE AS -- 'OK') AS I ROLLED OUT I LOOKED FOR THE RWY/ARPT AND COULDN'T FIND IT. (I ESTIMATED THE VISIBILITY/BETTER THAN 2 MI...MAYBE 3) I ASKED THE PNF TO POINT OUT THE ARPT TO ME. HIS RESPONSE WAS TO USE THE FMS TO FIND IT! AS I STARTED A MISSED APCH; I ACQUIRED THE ARPT AT 11 O'CLOCK; NOT AT THE 1:30 O'CLOCK I EXPECTED. WE WERE 1/2 MI S OF THE ARPT! WE WERE ABLE TO RE-ENTER DOWNWIND; FLY THE PATTERN AND LAND. POST FLT -- THE PNF LOST THE ARPT TURNING DOWNWIND BUT THOUGHT HE COULD STAY ORIENTED USING LIGHTS ON THE GND (THIS IS HOME BASE) ALSO; HE THOUGHT I 'COULD HANDLE IT.' WE HAD A LONG TALK ABOUT HIS ROLE AS OUR 'EYES' AND HIS RESPONSIBILITIES IN THIS PARTICULAR SIT. BECAUSE OF HIS EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION; I HADN'T BRIEFED HIM TO KEEP THE ARPT IN SIGHT OR TO CALL FOR A GAR IF HE LOST THE ARPT/RWY. 'ASS U ME!' TO ME THIS WAS AN UNSAFE AND UNNERVING EXPERIENCE -- NIGHT; POOR WX; LOW ALT AND LOST! AND THE ONLY PERSON THAT HAD THAT INFO KEPT IT TO HIMSELF; AND DIDN'T ACT ON IT. AS A RESULT OF OUR POST FLT TALKS; I DON'T THINK EITHER PLT WILL EVER REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF THIS INCIDENT.