Originally Posted by
LOMCEVAK
G,
The Weedhopper sounds like a HF nightmare and I am amazed that it was ever certificated. I had about 3000 hours on 3 axis aircraft before I flew a flex wing (Hornet Raven) so had very ingrained skill based reactions for yaw control. The biggest problem area was on landing if a quick directional correction was needed because there was no time for a conscious decision to be made. I suspect that it was my background which actually generated this problem compared to yourself and the others to whom you refer.
The Weedhopper was very very "Mk.1" and to describe it as certificated is probably doing it more justice than it deserves. It existed before any kind of modern safety regulations did, and hadn't killed anybody, so didn't get banned when regulations came in. It actually did evolve into a number of quite excellent little aeroplanes, the best of which is probably the Raj Hamsa X'Air - which has ailerons and conventional rudder pedals, and is one of the easiest most relaxed pleasant aeroplanes I've ever flown.
I had hundreds, rather than thousands, of 3-axis hours when I first flew a flexwing, and won't deny a few issues myself - but the reality was that that was in dual controlled aeroplanes with a grown up sat behind me (the Hornet R-ZA you flew was an evolutionary dead end, probably the last ever side-by-side flexwing). Nowadays at least, there's a clear training requirement (in Britain anyhow) so the first few hours should never be done such that those 3-axis ingrained habits are problematic. Of course, this is a pretty generic point: anybody switching to a totally new form of flying machine to them, needs some robust training and safety planning. The same would apply going between nosewheel and tailwheel.
Very best,
G