elevator trim tab

Hi there,

I tried to post this yesterday,but haven't seen it appear as yet,so if it repeats please forgive.

I am about to wire the rocker switch and LED indicator for the trim motor on the elevator. My concern is that I have seen where others have the trim tab going the wrong way and only discover this on the maiden flight.

So the question is, Does the tab point down to create the nose up trim or does it go up,the same direction as the elevator travel.

I would check this on the plane I usually fly, but its a Jabiru and they use a spring set up for trim adjustment.

Cheers Will

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Permalink Reply by Paul Toone on January 23, 2012 at 4:46pm

Hi Will,

It's opposite to what you first think!

Trim tab goes down to give you elevator up and vice-versa

 

Paul Toone

Permalink Reply by Bob McDonald on January 23, 2012 at 7:06pm

It does not really matter. You can rotate the rocker switch to cause the desired effect on the control surface, the LED indicator only gives a position with respect to total travel. I labeled the rocker switch to reflect the effect its movement causes ie: "Nose Up" or "Nose Down". Any adjustment regardless of how minor will be felt on the control stick pressure.

Permalink Reply by Jock Struthers on January 24, 2012 at 2:03am
The tab is a balancing mechanism, not to be confused with the primary control. The elevator trim tab reduces aerodynamic load on the elevator, so works opposite to the direction of the elevator ...ie elevator up, trim tab down. I wired mine up wrong and my engineer spotted it pretty quickly!

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