trim, how to? by a newbie

[gius]

Hi to all,
i'm a newbie to FSX, and i need an advice: how to fine tune the trim of the elevators?
i'm doing some practice but without good results. I've the trim controlled by two buttons on the stick but, although this, i'm often in difficulty.
I have a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro...
Any help will be appreciated,
Thanks in advance
Gius

[johannesl]

The general way to do this is to climb or descend to the desired altitude and hold it with the yoke/stick, maintain the power setting until the desired airspeed is reached and then adjust the power to maintain that speed and trim to relieve the pressure on the yoke/stick to fly level at that altitude. Very small adjustments my be necessary to maintain this. In a small plane like a Cessna 172 I have found that it can be quite easy to trim by visual means by using the combination of, if the nose goes up the trim wheel goes up and if the nose goes down the trim wheel goes down. If you set your controller up this way and remember which is which it's pretty easy. A rocker switch makes this easier. It can be set under Settings, Controller.

[gius]

Thank you Johannesl,
your advice has been helpful!!
Gius

[COBS]

What I do is hit the Autopilot master switch , give it a second or two then switch it off.
That automatically sets the Elevator trim for you .
***( only works if FD - Flight Director is Off )

It only works within +/- 30 degrees of pitch .
Very handy , fast , and accurate.

I have the autopilot master switch assigned to a button on my joystick , actually the small frontal lever on the Thrustmaster
Hotas Cougar joystick , a common use for that lever switch.

Cheers
Karol

PS
I also have the incremental nose up and nose down elevator assigned to my joystick .
If you are flying level in a stabilised condition , trim the elevator , if you have got it right , then
you should be able to take your hand off the stick and the aircraft will fly level , check your VSI instrument for
Nil climb or descent , if it does either keep trimming till stable VSI indication .
That will get you very close .
Remember any change in condition such as power , flaps , stick input will upset your trim status , and possibly
need re trimming .

Try this when accurately trimmed , note your altitude , then apply either a very small nose down or nose up stick input ,
then hands off the stick , your aircraft should do a series of phugoid cycles ( up and down waves ) before settling down
to level flight at pretty much the same altitude that you started at .

[griphos]

I just trim like I do in real life. When I'm holding force on the stick to maintain speed or altitude, I trim the force out.

In the sim, each plane responds to trim inputs differently. On some, using trim buttons or keyboard keys can move the trim a good bit with each small press. When possible, I trim in the VC by holding my mouse over the trim lever/wheel/switch adjust with the mouse wheel. It's intuitive, and you can move the trim as little or as much as you want that way.