Do People hate to fly at contests or why is there so few?

[Full Montee]

Well got the bug, I'm planning on attending Nats this year.
Started practice and setup this weekend.
Got to tinker and practice aerobatic and hovering precision.
It's hard but every once in awhile it comes together and it doesn't look that bad

[InTheDirt]

Well, I go way back in early RC planes - kicking duck gliders mostly
Then way back in ham radio to the days of tubes
Then left to do other things with my life.
Now back and flirting around the edges of RC helis - flying sim mostly after fixed coaxial got too boring.
Anyway, what I want to comment about is F3C etc. has come and gone. The reasons are evident. 3D is shiny and glittery and you get to slam it all over the sky. No one can see that you can barely hold a hover, much less a steady hover. The hobby is filled with young folks - mostly guys with a lifetime video game attention span of milliseconds.
Same reason you don't see the hand launch glider contests, and on and on. Not enough visual punch, no instant gratification, no self discipline to do the boring stuff a thousand times in a row until it looks machine perfect.
I don't know if this is good or bad, but it is what it is. So if you like the idea of becoming a precision flyer then go for it. Just don't expect a crowd of scantily clad, barely pubescent girls to be hyperventilating after you.

[GJacksonF3N]

Probably not fair to say all 3D guys are bad at hovering/f3c type flying.

[aterren]

I wish there were some contest opportunities. In also flew pattern in the 80s and early 90s. That experience has driven me to try and be precise (e.g. Take offs are vertical, not racing to the left)

I know i would be a better flyer if I practiced with F3C pilots and i even thought about going to the NATS this year just for the learning experience but that isn't going to work.

[Ace Dude]

There's still time left for this year's NATS, why wait until next year?

[aterren]

I'd like to go this year but schedules just are not going to work out given other commitments.

[JeffPfeifer]

I mainly fly 3d, but about once a month I take a day off from 3d and do only F3C type flying. Hovering and big air sequence type maneuvers. Actually yesterday I went to the flying field and no one was around so I decided to do an F3C day. So I downloaded the 2014 F3C-P sequence on my iPhone, studied all the maneuvers and proceeded to fly 4 flights of the P sequence. I made it through all the hovering and big air maneuvers without much issue. This type flying does wonders for your 3D flying as it forces you to fly very precise and work on the basic fundamentals of flying a heli.

[jbrandt]

Back in the day, my old club would hold informal "comps" like spot landings, dead sticks, hand catches (only for gliders, people!), etc... Basically, just the kind of stuff that a bunch of guys sitting around the flying field would eventually start doing on their own. A bunch of people get together for flying, bbq'ing, more flying. Then night time shenanigans would inevitably ensue.

Most of the comps we hear about are the BIG ones that bring the big name pilots and the big name sponsors, but the vast majority of "comps" (I use the term loosely, lol) are probably the ones nobody hears about offered by local clubs with few (if any) sponsors except the guy who said he'd bring the BBQ, and the other guy who brought the burgers, and another guy who built a "trophy" out of smashed up heli parts. First prize for "best crash" is the club trainer.

There should be more of those...

The other thing is the "race to "place" mantra which tends to scare off most folks who aren't at the top of their game (which is 99% of us!). But I remember back when I did a lot of mountain bike racing: Rarely did I go to a race expecting to place on the podium, I usually just went as a silly excuse to ride somewhere I don't normally ride, and to see people I don't normally see. Usually I'd just hope for a raffle prize!

[Flydynamics]

Originally Posted by RogerRabit

The FAI sites or the F3C/F3N sites here in europe.

And - to the first answer

Yes - it takes a lot of time
Yes - it takes nerves of steal and the heart is pounding when you stand in front of the judges
Yes - you need two machines (probably identical . but i had three different )

But

It is a great deal of fun also.

+1 I competed a lot in FAI F3C back in my early years in France, excellent school for mastering many different skills.