Pilot's tip of the week

Flying By Trim

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Subscriber question:

"Some pilots are told by their instructors to fly by the trim. My instructor religiously says to trim after you find your appropriate angle of climb, descent, or cruise. Which is true, and which is false?" - Craig T.

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Bob:

flying_by_trim.png“I agree with your Instructor. You should trim after setting power and after setting the aircraft attitude for climb, cruise or descent. The idea is to trim off control pressures after power and attitude are set. Attempting to fly the aircraft with trim will result in a wide divergence of airspeed and trim before the proper setting is achieved. Trim tabs are not a primary flight control. Remember that trim is both power and airspeed sensitive. Therefore trim can only be accurately set after the power and airspeed stabilize. This applies in climbs, cruise, and descents.”

(NEW) VFR Mastery scenario #94 “Gulf Coast Gauntlet” is now available. You’ve been dodging showery precipitation all the way home and you’ve got one area to bypass. The catch is the only VFR you can use is the peninsula on the west side of Tampa’s Class B, about 15 miles ahead. You stop and wait, but the only good airport is behind you and still IFR in showers. You circle to consider your options: VFR under the Bravo, VFR with a clearance through the Bravo, land without permission at a private airpark where no one seems to be monitoring the radio, or continue to circle, burning gas and hoping things improve. Watch the Intro video.

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