ORIGINAL: jeffie8696
ON a related note.
If my plane flies tail down at cruise even though it is balanced and trimmed straight would you raise or lower the leading edge wing incidence to correct it?
My last trainer did this and it was found the ailerons were adjusted improperly, both were slightly up, this plane has been checked and they are not.
There is a way to think about the problem that clarifies the solution.
What is your goal? It is to have the fuselage level at cruise, right. Since no matter what you do, the wing will always fly with the AOA that produces the appropriate amount of lift, and it is in control and is always going to set the same angle, forget about changing the wings incidence. Simply think about adjusting the fuselage to the wing.
Think about adjusting the fuselage to be what you want. It's tail down now? OK, move the tail up where you want it. That's easier to see in your mind, right.
How far down is the tail in cruise? Let's say 7 degrees. OK, change the wing's incidence by 7 degrees. Which way? If the tail of the airplane is going "up", the trailing edge of the wing is going "down" and the leading edge is going......... see?