I have been doing R & B's at my home field CYYJ for years, mostly when flying the Nanchang CJ 6 , but occassionally in a T 28 and
L 29 ( usually a high flat break ). Why do I do it ? Two reasons ; One -because its FUN ! and Two the CJ6 in particular has a very draggy gear but only a 100 kt Vle. A R & B allows me to bleed off speed and get the gear down without touching the throttle from my 550 humhugs approach manifold pressure setting . Since radial engines do not like low power high RPM/airspeed this is very desirable from a engine longevity point of view. I ask ATC for the manoever well outside the circuit and if it is not busy usually get it. The break is almost always in the opposite direction ( ie left break for the normal right hand circuit on the main runway ). As far as I know I have never bothered anybody and ATC and/or the Feds have never complained. All that been said I will not generally do R & B at a airport that does not have positive ATC.
At the end of the day I think this topic has nothing to do with the R & B it is purely an airmanship issue. Pilots that are creating problems are probably a pain in the A ** in the rest of their flying. By not behaving responsibly they are hurting th rest of us. BTW
I once overheard a PPL at my flying club disparage a nicely flown formation R & B that had just occured. He was quite vocal about how unsafe and irresponsible he considered the manoever he had just observed. We both headed out to our respective Spamcans for a local flight. Coincidentaly about a hour later we both rejoined the circuit. He was told to follow me in the downwind Number 2. I had to go around after he cut me off on final ....