Hey, Gene... how did it go today? We are all hopeful that it went well.

CGr.

We did not get to fly today as the winds were very strong. I did put the plane on the flight stand and we stood behind it while he was pretending to fly. I showed him what little input on the sticks would look like on the plane. I think he understood that it didn't take much stick movement to make one of the control surfaces move. I had him show me left and right hand turns, straight and level, climb and then dive. I think we made some progress at least on the flight stand. I had him use the thumb and index finger on the right stick. We practiced climbing then going to straight and level. Several times going to straight and level he could see that he was still holding the stick back. now if this will translate to him getting in the air, we are making progress. It is suppose to rain tomorrow (again) so we will be on hold until Thursday.


Hummmm,,, should that be the wind was very strong and not the winds were very strong. Can wind be plural?????

Good news on progress.

I imagine how challenging it is for your student trying to control so many things at once!

Winds is used in some phrases, but wind seems to be more commom.
Check this link out:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/winds

The LT40 will climb pretty easy with that flat bottom wing.

If it were me, KISS; Keep It Simple!
[ul][*] I would make sure you are flying slow (very slow, but not near stall speeds, this will reduce the control surfaces sensitivity)[*]Fly low, maybe 50 feet or so down the middle of the runway[*]Hand it off low and slow, and ask him to fly the length of the runway (maybe beyond, we have trees) nice and slow and *Level*[*]You may have to do this for the entire flight (maybe a couple flights)[*]As my last resort; I would set the radio up where he has nothing but elevator, I would control everything but hand off the one surface till he can fly it level

[/ul]

I feel for you, thank you for taking the time and putting in the effort!

Cheers,
Steve

Gene,

One thing I haven't heard mentioned is the spring tension on the transmitter sticks. What are the spring tensions on the transmitter he's using? On our club transmitter I initially left it where it was set by somebody else and it had very little tension. One student had a lot of issues because he couldn't feel when the stick was centered - constantly climbing and descending. Once I cranked the tension all the way up he was able to feel when the stick was centered.

There are some people who can't feel when a stick is centered without putting the spring tension up to maximum. After they have flown for a while and learned the muscle memory, then they can work with softer spring rates if they desire.

Hogflyer