Using rudder is an awful important skill to acquire.
It's obviously important in order to fly "coordinated", but we also use it to purposely fly "uncoordinated" at times too. It can help minimize drag and conserve E, or can be used to maximize drag and "burn" E. I often use liberal amounts of rudder to tighten rolls in my F4U, especially when I'm coming over the top on my barrel rolls. I use it to tighten turns, or to delay my inboard wing from stalling. Used incorrectly or at the wrong times, rudder can send you to the tower via an opponents bullets or via the ground.
At first, my guess is you'll use it excessively or at inappropriate times, simply because you may accidently twist the stick and also because now it's easy to use. I had the same problem when I went to rudder pedals. I wanted to try out my "new toy", so I killed myself repeatedly by over-using it, hehe. It also took me a long time to develop enough skill with it to make the correct actions automatic.
I'd recommend you purposely use it in some basic manuevers, and don't worry about it too much in actual fights...yet. That will come with time as you become comfortable with its use.
Some basic things you can try-
1)Make sure you do not use Auto Takeoff. There's some pretty basic rudder practice involved with taking off. This is a "coordinated" use of rudder, so "Step on the ball". Watch the indicator, and apply rudder to keep the ball centered. If it goes right, apply right rudder.
2)Use a "slip" while landing. Use full rudder to one side, and aileron to direct your path onto the runway. You'll find your rate of descent increases, but airspeed doesn't, as long as you control it properly with elevator and throttle. Practice landing on the CV this way too. catching the wires even gives you an opportunity to be "precise" with your controls. A slip is an example of "uncoordinated" rudder use, exposing the side of the fuselage to the slipstream and increasing drag.
3) Try some "point rolls". Put your gunsight on a target on the horizon, and roll with aileron only. You'll see the sight actually travels or "draws" a circle on the horizon, and you'll probably exit the roll nose down to some extent.
Now try it like this. Put the sight on the horizon, and KEEP it there (stationary) as you roll. To do that, roll 90 degrees onto your RIGHT side, and stop the roll, holding the sight on the target with LEFT rudder. Now roll inverted, and hold on target without rudder, but with down elevator. Now go another 90 degrees onto your LEFT side, holding your nose up with RIGHT rudder. And now roll another 90 degrees to finish. That's a 4-point Roll. Try these rolls at different speeds, and with longer "pauses" at each point. Instead of rolling 90 degrees between points, you can instead roll 45 degrees, and make it an 8-point roll. Master that and you'll have more rudder skill than many in the game. Want a huge challenge? Try to fly a simple left-hand circle at a constant altitude, but do it while continuously rolling.
You may find Auto Combat Trim does some goofy things here, but that's a different lesson. Inverted flight is easier w/o the auto trim, at least in my opinion...
4)Spins, and spin recovery. Get up around 8-10K, and pull the throttle back. Use elevator to keep your nose up, and feed in rudder as you slow down. That should snap you into a spin. Now recover. Neutral aileron and rudder, down elevator, and then some rudder opposite of the spin. You're seeking a straight dive, and then to pull out. Pull out abruptly as soon as the spin stops. What happens? Now try it again, but let your speed build and pull out smoothly. Which works best? Master spins and recovery at different speeds, altitudes, and with throttle on or off. Try some different planes too. A great recipe for a spin is slow flight with some elevator and rudder. In other words, when you're in a turn fight. You'll spin while fighting, so master recovering, or even catching them before they start.
5) Use some rudder as you do barrel rolls. Try just a bit, and try quite a bit. See the different results. Also watch for different results at different speeds.
The more you can use rudder and make its use automatic, the better off you'll be. At first you'll need to "think about it" a lot, so do that in a controlled situation. Don't worry about it too much in combat situations. As you get more familiar with it, it will take care of itself, with little or no thought from you.
MtnMan
