I think the dangers of maiden flights in general are overrated and that is why I posted the thread to begin with.

The case of the Aero-Design events proves that maiden flights with a degree of risk can be made in from of a crowd and that the risks can be made reasonable. Given that most maiden flights at R/C type fly in events would be of proven model designs, the risk there is pretty minimal. even in front of a crowd.

I think it is prudent to not maiden a model of experimental design in front of a large crowd, even more so if it is large and heavy.

I recently maidened 4 smaller models of my own on the day before SMALL Steps in Little Rock, AR, plus a couple of others for other folks. There were around 20 early arrivals at the field that day and there were several other maidens performed as well. All were without issues and the models performed well all weekend.I madened a 5th model Friday, after event hours. I maidened a 6th and final model after the event was over on Sunday afternoon. Everything was safely accomplished.

My building and flying time is limited by job and family duties and I often do not get a chance to fly during the couple of weeks before an event. Thus, I safely test new and modified models before an event or after event hours.

Some folks like to have others maiden a model and the talent pool at a fly in is often much greater than at the local flying field.

Given other flight risks at model events (Midairs, equipment failure, pilot error), the slight additional risk of a maiden flight is extremely minimal.