Have anyone of you ever trimmed your own plane, is it easy to do or not recommended for someone who's still learning to fly? *Hobbico Nexstar*

bobs,

Yes and no... Yes, easy to do if someone else is there with you, take your time and make only small adjustments, and only one surface at a time.
No not easy for a newbie to do correctly and precisely, then again an out of trim plane is no joy either.

Jetts

Depends on the airplane...

A common .40 size trainer I STRONGLY advise against it.
A beginner gets 3 strikes without assistance.
1) hes a beginner
2) he's got an untrimmed airplane
3) his engine starts.
You're out! Bag up the toothpicks. (which used to be a model airplane.)

A 2 meter glider ARF..not the kits... they aren't always straight when the beginner gets done...(well neither is the ARF with some beginners...)
You can learn to hand toss a styro disposable model from Wal-mart.
Then gently toss the RC model and make small trm adjustments until it flies smoothly. A maximum hand launch of a Spirit ARF (not the one with electric drive) can make one nice big circle back to you with no thermal or ridge lift form a good toss. (once it is trimmed)

Instructions on teaching yourself come with the introductory 2-meter ARF gliders.

Instructions for self-instruction come with a lot of other models... they shouldn't but they do.

Although it isn't something I would recommend a newbie to do right off. I belive it is necessary to learn to do it toward the end of your lessons. I always teach this right before they solo. In fact one of the tests to pass is to change thier trims in flight and make them trim it themselves. I belive it is important to learn as many planes will fly differently and you need to know how to change the trims without looking at the radio.

Learn to fly well first with your trainer and then learn to trim it.

Hey bobs!!! Glad to see you back here. Havent heard from you since your engine problem. Was it OK?

From other posts you have made it seems like you were flying pretty well. I dont think trimming is going to be a problem for you. Its not a big deal. Trick is to have a good feel for the TX and know exactly where the trims are without looking for them. Also if there is lots of wind dont worry about it. Just fly. (You end up trimming good for the up wind and struggling on the downwind or vice versa).

Key is to have control surfaces in proper alignment on the ground first that way your not far off when you get up in the air. Trim your Nexstar at about 1/2 throttle, fly level then see what happens. Make small adjustments and see how it flys. Keep working till you get it right.

You got the skills, I know you can do it!!!!!!

Happy Flying!!!!

Sean

With the info that he's essentially soloed... thats a whole new can of beans.[&:]

Yes a person who knows how to fly can AND SHOULD trim his own airplane.... as long as the model's performance is within his comfort level for the task.

Trim that .40 trainer!

Might (not necessarilly... but might be a good idea) want someone else to trim-test the pretty P-51.

I taught myself to fly, so I had to teach myself to trim too. I started with small E power planes though. I was also pretty lucky. The best advice I can give is to practice changing the trim tabs on your transmitter, without looking at it. Once you can easily find the trim tabs, you are ready to try it. One more thing, don't get in a hurry. Even if you have to fight the plane a little, get some altitude. I know thats obvious, but on the maiden flight your heart is pounding and the adrenalin is pumping and you tend to rush it a little. I have done about 20 maiden flights now and its the same every time. Gota love it.

P.S.- One click at a time, one surface at a time, and ONLY WHEN IT'S COMPLETELY CALM!!!!

On your maiden flight, I recommend that you NOT try to trim your plane. I have seen 2 nexstars out on maiden flights and they both were a hand full. The little lift things on the wings are not balanced and there is too much adjustment on the flaps. With these two items alone, it took a skilled builder and flyer (our clubs primary instructor) to try to get the plane not to crash and he had someone on the trips while he flew.

One didn't have enough elevator to overcome the other forces and he turned it with rudder.

I've flown for about a year and I still get a more experienced member to trim out any new airplanes I get.

After the first "pro" trimming I do the rest. One problem for beginers is taking their eyes off their airplane to look at the radio. Someone showed me a trick that makes it easier. Hold the radio up high infront of you so you can look at the radio and the plane at the same time.

You only need to adjust three trim controls while flying and the throttle isn't one of them. The trim controls move in the same direction as your primary control sticks. So if you know how to move the primary sticks to make the plane move a certain direction then you know how to trim. Like Jett said though, one click at a time and make sure you up high enough to recover if you get in trouble. Don't get in the habit of looking at the radio, practice moving from the sticks to the trim tabs while on the ground (and don't look).

Until this last maiden flight, I had one of the club instructors take-off my new creations and trim it out/evaluate it. After that, I did the trimming. A few weeks ago, I did my first ever own maiden flight on a new airplane..a H-9 Ultrastik 40... even then, I had one of the instructors standing beside me. I'm glad I did.. it turned out to be a lot quicker and more sensitive than I had anticipated... and it needed trimming out too. I got it airborne and then asked the instructor to give me a couple bumps of elevator/ rudder/ airleron etc until it was flying hands off.

If it's a new airplane, especially if it's a "step up" for you, there's no harm/shame in asking for help. Part of the secret of being a good flyer is knowing when you're in over your head.

I WISH more people UNDERSTOOD that...

****

Here's a good one...[>:] (not recent... about 8 year back and 6 moves and about 4 clubs ago)

One of the better flyers at a field sees me flying a Dynaflite Butterfly and having a blast doing loops...flying inverted... (all the stuff people say a motor-glider can't do...) and wants to try it.

Well... heck... he's the best at the field, and I'm barely able to keep a .40 power sport model in the air... "Sure... take it."

He couldn't fly the thing for BEANS! Too used to having a 1.2:1 Power:weight... this thing had 0.3:1. I had to save him after 30 sec...