Having taught myself to fly Rc planes I would say from personal preference that aileron elevator is easier to learn than rudder elevator. That said the perceived easiest is stated as rudder elevator largely because the perceived aim of a novice is to fly relatively flat. The reason being that probably the biggest problem in Rc flying when you begin is losing orientation in respect to what your aeroplane is doing. As a result trainers are built with high degrees of lateral stability and to be relatively sluggish to pitch input. So that everything happens slowly. Early aviators wanted something similar it all to happen slowly but roll control makes turning more accurate and attitude recovery less vague. So the Wrights Bleriots and most of the successful designs that followed that early era have a form of roll control as a major control element. You can fly without it but it makes life a lot easier if you do have it. So for those who think that there are alternatives to Wrights claim perhaps you should read about how gobsmacked the Europeans were at the Wright flying demonstrations the when they saw them in Europe in 1908. Granted it wasn't the 1903 flyer but it was way ahead of the Europeans in terms of accuracy and control . within a year or two the Europeans had caught up and then surpassed and it took the USA pretty much until WW2 to catch up again.
Last edited by Suffolk Lad; 16th Jun 2014 at 21:08.