Wings,
That's a good idea, and you may end up coming back for some training. I belong to 2 clubs and both are approx 1 hr drive from me. I could fly closer, but it's just more fun with other like-minded folk. Also, you can sit around and swap stories, if you forget your glow driver, borrow someone elses, etc...

The LT-40 comes with pretty decent sized wheels, and the grass should be no problem unless it's more than 1-1 1/2 inch or so high.

As to the rudder question, that's been worked over before in this forum (do a search for use of rudder, et al). But in nutshell, when you're beginning it's for steering on the ground. To turn, you set your bank angle with the ailerons, which will cause the plane to turn, then keep altitude with the elevator (to compensate for lost lift into the bank). Now, when doing aerobatics, the rudder is used all the time for various reasons.

Hope this helps,

Joe