If you have a question, by all means ask as others will have the same question.
Whether it is throttle/elevator/rudder or throttle/elevator/ailerons, this
plane can be controlled and therefore gives the new pilot the authority to
command the plane as he wishes. In fact very exciting planes can be made with three channel control. They can be highly aerobatic or they can be slow flyers that can fly indoors.
For some, this will be all the control they will ever need. They can have slow flyers, high speed aerobats, beautiful scale ships and never lack positive control of the plane. This is where I started my flight training and it has taken me quickly into all kinds of wonderful flying experiences.
This normally translates into throttle, rudder, elevator and ailerons. This can provide more controlled landings, or make 3D flight possible. Aerobatics can be much more sophisticated.
It's the opinion of the 'world class' instructor in the FS One Flight Simulator training program that every beginner needs to first learn aileron control before learning rudder control. This seems to make some sense for a couple reasons. 1) Elevator and aileron are combined on the same control stick. 2) Whether pylon racing, combat flying, learning some basic aerobatics or flying in a smaller park aileron control has its advantages. Yet many of us are under the impression that a beginner should learn 3-channel throttle, elevator and rudder control before advancing to 4-channel throttle, elevator, rudder and aileron control.
A foamy thread at RCU discusses what seems to be a most practical 3-channel electric aileron foamy(fixed rudder) that could be one of the best trainers for the money for a beginner. With the wide array of model planes on the market why, oh why isn't one like this to be found? [link]http://www.qnet.com/~skif/plane.html[/link]
Why doesn't HobbyZone offer a similar RTF? Hobby-Lobby has a vast selection from which to choose from a beginner pilot to an elite pilot, yet not one of their many choices is to be found like the one in the above link(a beginner 3-channel foamy plane with one or two ailerons and a fixed rudder? It's a simple enough design that could be easily manufactured with a good enough profit margin. The only difference is that instead of the servo controlling a rudder it's controlling the aileron.
So my question is why the emphasis by manufacturers on 3-channel rudder instead of 3-channel aileron and your reference above to rudder control preceeding aileron control. Another way of phrasing my query would be to say, Why wouldn't a 3-channel SuperCub with one or two aileron control surfaces (with a fixed rudder) be a better trainer for a beginner with the option of upgrading it to 4-channel with rudder control? Does it boil down to the fact that it's less expensive to manufacture a model airplane with rudder control than incorporate even one aileron into the main wing? How much more do you think it would cost to manufacture a 3-channel aileron SuperCub with fixed rudder. Isn't it their responsibility to also educate us as to the preferred learning sequence instead of just producing a plane as inexpensively as possible.
I suspose if I called HobbyZone customer support they would tell me that its more important to have rudder control than aileron control if you can only have your choice of one or the other. Who do we believe--a world class instructor or Horizon Hobby and our LHS?