Elevator trim explained
Today I’m going to be talking about Elevator trim with you guys. There have been quite a few posts lately about the subject, and it seems some are still not fully grasping what trim does.
Most aircraft have what is known as a trim tab. Some aircraft use the whole elevator or stabilator as part of the trim system. Today we will just go into the trim tab as they both do the same job.
What is the trims purpose?
The trim alleviates any back or forward pressure on the yoke “aka your device”. When you tap the screen to calibrate at the beginning of every flight you are neutralizing the yoke.
The Elevator goes into a neutral position.
The ailerons go into a neutral position.
Trim set to 0° or %
Trim set to takeoff
How do I use trim effectively?
As stated before trim is used to alleviate back pressure on the yoke. In the case of Infinite Flight it’s used to keep our device in a comfortable position where we calibrated it.
Characteristics of trim
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Every aircraft will have different trim settings for each phase of flight. Things that effect this are speed, weight, design ect. I find that the MD-11 requires a good amount of positive trim to keep it stable. Were as the spitfire requires a negative trim to keep it stable.
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Positive trim is going to bring the nose up, but more importantly it’s going to slow the aircraft down.
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Negative trim is going to bring the nose down, but again more importantly increase the speed.
I know some of you are saying what does trim have to do with speed. I’ll get to that in just a minute.
Procedures for trimming
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Trim the aircraft for your desired speed I cannot emphasize this one enough
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If you are pulling back on the device from where you calibrated it use positive trim.
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If you are pushing forward on your device from where you calibrated it use negative trim.
Why we trim for speed
Let’s use the Cessna 172 as an example. This plane has been used for decades as a training aircraft. When we taxi into the runway for takeoff we apply 100% throttle to do so correct? Ok so now we have max thrust we can’t give it anymore. If we are out of trim in the positive direction we are going to either. A. Fight the yoke forward to maintain speed or B. end up stalling the airplane correct?
If our thrust which creates speed which in turn creates lift is ineffective cause our angle of attack is to great we either stall or fight the aircraft.
The next time you fly I want you all try follow these steps and see if it helps your flying.
Turbo jet
- set takeoff power and leave it.
- Once you are airborne out of ground effect put your device back to where you calibrated it, and use the trim alone to remain under 250 kts.
- once above 10,000 feet using the trim alone trim for a speed of 280 kts.
- as you climb you will need to go down to maybe 270 but typically 280 works.
- Once you reach your cruising altitude trim for your cruising speed.
- from there on out use the power adjustments to make any altitude changes.
Yes I want you all to hand fly this. Let me know how it works out for you in the comments below ✌️
