Most modellers today are basically painters of other peoples sculpture. A
rigged airplane involves skills that have not been mastered by most model
builders. So they build them, paint them up and leave them at home when
contest time rolls around. And next time, they build something that has only
one wing to worry about. You can build 3 or 4 "modern" types in the time it
takes to assemble one rigged biplane. One of the reasons that rigged
airplanes often do well in the Overall phase of competition is that other
modellers are a little bit in awe of the work that goes into them.
I consider it good fortune that none of the model shows I've attended has
ever had to compete with snakes. Once with a rock concert was bad enough.
And there was the time the police sent a SWAT team in after reports of
someone carrying an automatic weapon (It was a very well done model in 1:1
scale).
Eli Geher