Aircraft Trim Tabs

The most common installation on small aircraft is a single trim tab attached to the trailing edge of the elevator. Most trim tabs are manually operated by a small, vertically mounted control wheel. However, a trim crank may be found in some aircraft. The flight deck control includes a trim tab position indicator. Placing the trim control in the full nose-down position moves the trim tab to its full up position. With the trim tab up and into the airstreams, the airflow over the horizontal tail surface tends to force the trailing edge of the elevator down. This causes the tail of the airplane to move up, and the nose to move down. [Figure 5-20]

If the trim tab is set to the full nose-up position, the tab moves to its full down position. In this case, the air flowing under the horizontal tail surface hits the tab and forces the trailing edge of the elevator up, reducing the elevator’s AOA. This causes the tail of the airplane to move down, and the nose to move up.

In spite of the opposing directional movement of the trim tab and the elevator, control of trim is natural to a pilot. If the pilot needs to exert constant back pressure on a control column, the need for nose-up trim is indicated. The normal trim procedure is to continue trimming until the aircraft is balanced and the nose-heavy condition is no longer apparent. Pilots normally establish the desired power, pitch attitude and configuration first, and then trim the aircraft to relieve control pressures that may exist for that flight condition. Any time power, pitch attitude, or configuration is changed; expect that re-trimming will be necessary to relieve the control pressures for the new flight condition.