Hello...

I've been flying Heli's since Christmas 06'. I have a CP Pro, 2 MX400's - 1 with an align drive train, a T-Rex450 SE, and a Raptor Titan - with an OS 50 Hyper. I've wanted a plane for quite some time now and I finally got a trainer to try out. I purchased the Hangar 9 Solo Sport, also called the Solo Star & Solo Strike (Different graphic desgins). I've got her all assembled - I just need to get my hands on a muffler extension or a stock muffler - the motor came with a Pitts style muffler and I don't really feel like hacking the side of the front end off of the plane to make it fit - a 7/16" extension would work well. Either way - I'll be ready to fly it soon enough - I don't have an AMA membership, and I don't plan on flying at a park. I have a few nice flying spots - one of them has a small asphalt strip on it - it's just kind of short - then again, I don't know how much room I'll need to take off and land one of these things. It's powered by an OS 50FX. A friend of mine donated a junk plane to me and I scavenged everything I could off of it. A Nice find too - I used 3 Futaba Servos, the pack switch, the engine, and the wheels. I didn't use the Futaba 7 channel receiver or the other stuff on-board...I'd like to get that off my hands. The stock wheels on the Solo Sport were made of a hard foam and the wheels I got off the other plane were just like an inflatable tire - a bit larger too - I figure if I'm going to be doing anything in the grass they'd help.

A few questions I have:

How hard is it to transition from Heli's to a plane? [I can do FFF on a heli, nose in not a problem.]
Can this plane handle take-off's/landings on grass? Weedy Grass? Rough Grass? [I'm in Florida so the field's grass is pretty rough - it's close enough to home I could go over there with my mower and hack it real low, but it would be a 15 minute drive and I'm not looking forward to everyone in town watching me drive to it, or mow in a field the size of 8 football fields. I was thinking about a maike-shift runway - I've got 650' of used rubber conveyor belt - it's about 30" wide - I'm just not sure I could keep the plane going straight enough on it to keep it on it.]
Anyone with experience with this plane? Any pointers?
How much room will I need for take-off and landing?
How should I use the rudder on a plane? I know the rudder (Tail Rotor) on a Heli is used far more for Heli's than planes - I'm just wondering how to use the rudder on a plane - I was also wondering about using a Mix on the rudder. Could I mix rudder in with aeleron, if so, what would be the result? - A full scale pilot told me the rudder is used to coordinate a turn, but it is not necessary.