Yeah, I ran into that problem with a Sig Something Extra that a guy had at the field. He bought it from someone else who was a very experienced and talented flyer. His rates were, to say the least, sensitive. The poor guy that bought the plane had no idea. For his very first flight with the thing, he managed to get it up and in the air, but was all over the place.

I asked him if he had trimmed the plane. His answer was "Trim it? Hell, I can't fly it!!!" So, I asked him if he needed help.. "YES, PLEASE" was his answer so I ran over and took the TX from him. WOW.. what a handful. But, I realized what was going on and took it high then trimmed it out as best I could, then asked him where the rates switch was, he didn't know.. (Futaba and I was used to Spektrum and Airtronics). So, I landed it. Wphew.

Once on the ground.. in one piece, I might add.. all due to my superior flying skills.. [X(] ) and put it on the bench.

We figured out what was the high-low rates switch.. yeah, it was in high rates.. so as a quick fix, I set it to low rates, then set the high rates to match the low rates just in case, then I used the end points to soften it up even more, then added about 30% expo.

I put it back up for him and it was instantly more manageable. Wphew!!! So, I climbed up high and gave it back to him. He flew it ok and managed to get a lot of enjoyment out of it that day.

I guess the point here is that even new planes need to be checked for proper throws, using the manual, measuring the throws to see if they are way out or within reason.. then fly it with someone that can take over or have that person fly it first to see if it is fitting for a novice to fly, and make adjustments so it is fit for a novice.

CGr.