RE: Rudder on the Right Stick
I had flown Mode II pattern and pylon competitively for many years. When I got into IMAC Intermediate and had to start doing rolling circles, I sucked. I had always thought the Mode 1 guys had the right idea, but I didn't want to go buy a new radio to give it a try. So... 2 winters ago, I tried modes 1 and 4 on the sim. Could never get my brain around Mode 1, but Mode 4 worked! That winter I started with cheap planes and moved progressively up to my IMAC plane, making progress quickly. I never crashed more than a foamie, but did botch some cross-wind landings and damage some landing gears. I ended up moving up a class and flew a respectable, but not good, Advanced routine. This winter, I consider my reflexes totally retrained and I have much better control of my rolls, rudder, and corrections. It was worth it!
I can still fly mode 2 and not crash, but don't attempt landings with expensive planes.
Another concern that kept me from changing earlier was that nobody would be able to fly my planes if I got in trouble (such as a bee flying down my shirt or sunscreen in my eyes).
I discovered schemes of transmitter programming to change from 1 to 4 with the flick of a switch. Futaba 12mz is easy and JR 12x can be done with a more complicated scheme. (I'd be happy to share this info to anyone who is interested.)
If I want to fly someone else's plane, I plug in a buddy box on my mode. (Most less expensive Futaba transmitters can be switched to any of the 4 modes with a secret menu.)
Dan