After competing in, judging & contest directing scale contests for more than 2 decades I have to say they have their good & bad sides.

The good? No one is made to feel unwelcome, everyone is keen to help anyone else if they have problems. Most contest directors are aware of how important a contest is and usually bend the rules where needed to help a struggling competitor or someone with some bad luck. These same contest directors also stick strictly to the rules when it's an important championship rather than a contest designed to simply promote scale competition.

Weekends away with friends, Saturday night dinners with all the BS flowing, hung over flights on Sunday morning, all part of the comraderie that goes with the scale (or, I guess, any other type of model competition) competition scene. The waiting between flights is no problem, a chance to watch your competitors & their own struggles & triumphs and a chance to sort any problems you may have.

The models are all different, not just one pattern plane after another. And the improvement to your flying precision can only come from competition. Even the 'simple' manoevres can be flown badly, it's not as easy as it looks! - John.