ORIGINAL: LNEWQBAN
Great post and thread, aeajr; we don't have enough of piloting techniques here in RCU, I believe.
For me, learning to trim the model properly, is a great knowledge and skill for any student, the sooner the better.
Many students have soloed knowing near to zero about trimming, including myself.
Trimming is a required skill for free flyers, that we RC pilots tend to overlook.
About speed:
Management of energy is an important concept to be learned early in the process.
Good for gliders, for aerobatics and also for dead stick landings, if fuel is to be tried.
About over control:
I believe that for other than 3D flying, elevator use is frequently abused and misunderstood.
Years ago, I received what I believe was a great advice: try to fly a four-channel trainer, using only rudder and throttle, just until before flare.
From that excercise I learned how to manage altitude with change of airspeed only (instead of AOA only via elevator), and not less important, that my left thumb had work to do in each flight.
Due to a preflight screw up on my part, not long ago, I actually had to fly one of my gliders this way. It is a R/E throttle design. I had not properly secured the elevator connection. I took off and climbed to height on throttle, with no problem as this plane tends to nose up on high throttle. But when I powered off, I discovered I had not elevator control at all.
No problem. I could steer with the rudder and, by going into steep bank, I could lose altitude with rudder alone.After the inital climb, I never used the motor again. I circled the field twice, bled off some altitude with the rudder, then brought it in for a nice smooth landing.
In retrospect I could have used minimul throttle to create drag to help control the glide path, but I didn't need it.
You can do a lot of flying on the rudder alone. ;-)