How do I trim out my T-Hawk?
11-25-2003, 05:36 PM
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How do I trim out my T-Hawk?
Finally got properly flying, and don't know when I should try setting my trims. I have a T-Hawk, and should I set the trims going upwind or with a tailwind? Should I do it at full throttle or at cruising, or when it's gliding in idle? I assume I should set the trim to have it flying in a straight and steady path without radio input, but it climbs into a headwind, and drops a bit with a tailwind. Do I need to maybe wait for a perfectly calm day, or what? Thanks for any help. I'm new to this. PEACE.
11-25-2003, 09:03 PM
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RE: How do I trim out my T-Hawk?
My Rule Of Thumb for trimming is that a plane (especially "trainers") should fly straight and level at about 1/2 throttle on a calm day. Another way to look at it is that it should fly "hands off" (on a calm day). The idea is that if you get in trouble (and you have enough height!), you can just let go the sticks, set it at 1/2 throttle, and it will sort itself out and end up flying straight and level.
That being said, if you have the "old" T-hawk with the on/off throttle that's a little tough. Power, and headwind, makes any plane climb. Gliding, especially with a tailwind, any plane will drop. Hopefully you have the "new" T-Hawk with the proportional throttle.
Now that that's said, who says the trims have to be kept in one place all the time?
That being said, if you have the "old" T-hawk with the on/off throttle that's a little tough. Power, and headwind, makes any plane climb. Gliding, especially with a tailwind, any plane will drop. Hopefully you have the "new" T-Hawk with the proportional throttle.
Now that that's said, who says the trims have to be kept in one place all the time?
11-26-2003, 07:55 AM
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RE: How do I trim out my T-Hawk?
goofup's right.
Most MAJOR out-of-trim conditions will be present at any throttle setting. The plane will want to climb/dive, or roll left/right. Get those sorted out first. When you've got the major trim issues out of the way, land, and adjust the linkages so you can center the trim levers. Centering the trim levers gives you the most trim adjustment for normal flying.
Some serious trim problems might require adding ballast, such as when one wing is heavier than the other. Other problems may require physically altering the plane, but usually people just adjust the control surfaces to compensate. It's generally close enough for sport planes.
In full-scale planes, the elevator trim will change constantly with throttle and pitch. Pilots will continuously re-adjust the elevator trim wheel based on how the throttle is set, because it's very tiring to have to hold a constant pressure on the yoke/stick for hours. With our models, flights are generally less than 10 minutes, so 99% of us simply trim the plane out for straight and level flight at "cruising speed." Cruising speed is what you make of it; it's the speed at which you spend the most time with the plane. It could be half throttle. It could be 1/3 throttle. It could be wide open.
Most MAJOR out-of-trim conditions will be present at any throttle setting. The plane will want to climb/dive, or roll left/right. Get those sorted out first. When you've got the major trim issues out of the way, land, and adjust the linkages so you can center the trim levers. Centering the trim levers gives you the most trim adjustment for normal flying.
Some serious trim problems might require adding ballast, such as when one wing is heavier than the other. Other problems may require physically altering the plane, but usually people just adjust the control surfaces to compensate. It's generally close enough for sport planes.
In full-scale planes, the elevator trim will change constantly with throttle and pitch. Pilots will continuously re-adjust the elevator trim wheel based on how the throttle is set, because it's very tiring to have to hold a constant pressure on the yoke/stick for hours. With our models, flights are generally less than 10 minutes, so 99% of us simply trim the plane out for straight and level flight at "cruising speed." Cruising speed is what you make of it; it's the speed at which you spend the most time with the plane. It could be half throttle. It could be 1/3 throttle. It could be wide open.
11-26-2003, 10:51 AM
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RE: How do I trim out my T-Hawk?
Gracias guys. I take it from your responses that it shouldn't matter whether I'm flying into a headwind or not. I'll try find a calm day and make these adjustments. I just moved the pushrods to the innermost position on the elevator/rudder control horns. Should make the plane more responsive. Looks like the change has resulted in a slight amount of down elevator. I was gonna fix that, but figured the plane actually needs some downward trim, so maybe it's at a good starting point now. I hope to get some stick time in today. PEACE.
