Shoes don't matter. I've flown wearing office loafers, western boots, sneaks, and steel-toed construction boots. Doesn't matter once you've learned how much pressure to use on the pedals. Mostly you need to learn how much pressure to apply with your quads (the muscles on the front of your thighs). Also, when you use the brakes, try thinking in terms of curling your toes forward (this will cause your ankles to flex forward and push the brake pedal gently). Also, make sure you have the pedals adjusted correctly (for the uninitiated, the seats don't move in Diamonds - the pedals do).



Also, remember, the Katana is very sensitive to rudder forces, with very well balanced aelirons. The other "problem" with the Diamond aircraft is that you might have to "help" the airplane go straight during the takeoff roll with very soft, short touches of the appropriate brake until the rudder becomes effective. One of the toughest things to teach in these aircraft is soft and/or short field takeoffs in a cross-wind. In those types of takeoffs, you don't want to be using brakes, but it may be necessary to hold the centerline at very low speeds.



As suggestion, have your instructor do a rudder exercise with you. The way this works is that you go to a safe altitude. You then yaw the airplane left and right while rolling the aelirons the opposite way to hold the wings level. Obviously, you'll develop massive skids left and right. This "anti-coordination" exercise actually helps give you the tactile feel necessary to keep the ball in the middle because you're handling the controls in a non-standard fashion. After a few minutes of this, you'll be surprised how easy it is to keep the plane coordinated. Just make sure you're at a sufficient altitude and airspeed so you don't stall the plane cross-controlled (or if you do, there's enough room to recover from the resultant spin).



Have fun and keep us posted.



One thing - don't fly barefoot. Why? Three reasons -

1) Asphalt ramps in the summer will scorch your feet off (my big trick is to run across the parking lot barefoot at our timeshare in the Carribean - youch!)

2) Think about walking away from the airplane after an off-airport landing.

3) (Very unlikely) - Engine fire - keeping your feet protected.

Just to add my two cents in here too (what, me stay quiet?), I agree with the sentiments that footwear, so long as it is not going to get caught up in things, isn't really a factor, though, as rvmeder pointed out, don't go barefoot!



I've flown light aircraft in U.S. Air Force issue steel toe combat boots, business dress shoes, running sneakers, etc., and not had any problems with either the feedback aspect, nor functionality.

Hang in there! 72.5 inches, 210 pounds. I occasionally fly a 150, so we have to pick my victims carefully, along with accurate measurement of the fuel load. Also, in the Diamond Katana/C-1, the rudder pedals end up somewhere in front of the spinner on my side...



And people wonder why I love C182's and PA32's so much.

Wow - what a schedule. And people wonder when I sleep.



A strong suggestion: DVD's like this are most effective when used in conjunction with the flight lessons. Doing so will reinforce the learning and help build correlation, which is the path to true understanding. So, don't put it off too long - go fly (if you can find the time ).