This past Sunday as I told everyone, I got to fly my NexSTAR with the aid of an instructor. On the first flight the aircraft had a good bit of downward pitch and a bit of roll. I should also mention that we removed the speedbrake / training flaps before the flight at his recommendation and we disconnected the AFS. My instructor trimmed the ailerons to get rid of a little roll and trimmed the rudder a bit as well. It was pitching downward too when the stick was released and he had to put in a lot of up elevator to level it out and land. Once back on the ground he made a couple of adjustments on the elevator to get rid of the downward pitch. Then we were able to fly normally.

Right now the plane can be flowed easily but the elevator is still trimmed on the transmitter a little bit, the rudder is trimmed some and the ailerons too. Is this fine or should corrections now be made to the mechanical rigging to get the trim switches to neutral or real close to it? Seems to me that you would not want to have to trim the flight controls every time you fly.

Just leave them as they are set from your last flight with your instructor. Later on down the road after you've soloed you can worry about getting a plane mechanically trimmed out to neutral, but for now just leave it. As an instructor I can tell you one of the things that is very aggravating is having to retrim a plane every weekend when the student tried to adjust something. I'm not trying to be mean to you at all here, but I really am trying to help. I've had this happen to me more than a few times where a student goes home and tries to adjust the plane, only to get back to the field on the next flying session and I find a plane that is way out of trim and almost impossible to control. If you are going to try and "adjust" anything you should always consult with you instructor first.

Ken

You may not want to, but you'll end up using a little trim here and there depending on a great many things. Adjusting the trim isn't an every flight task, but I'd guess that I make a small adjustment here or there in most of my flying sessions. It becomes second nature, and you don't really think about it much.

Yes, you should try to get the mechanical linkages set up so that your transmitter trims are centered. Turn on the TX and RX, and make good note of where the surface is. Center the trim, and make the adjustment necessary to bring the surface to the position it was in before you centered the trim. Do that one channel at a time. One of the reasons for doing this is that you'll have the full trim travel available during future flights. Nobody likes to run out of trim--it makes for unhappy flying.

Computer radios have made many of us pretty complacent when it comes to our mechanical linkages. Dialing the trim out with sub-trim on the radio is a bad habit of mine. I tell myself that I'll do it the right way when I get home, but... It's just better if you teach yourself the good habits at the beginning. It's pretty rare to regret doing things in the right way.

2 points Yellowhawk

1. Yes, it is nice/best to have the trims centered mechanically for takeoff. That way if they get accidentally bumped while transporting all you need to do is center them to know they are ready for takeoff. Nothing to remember.

2. Don't touch nuthin. Like Ken said, you're not quite ready to do that yet. Next time at the field have your instructor show you how to do this properly. All too many times I see experienced people do this backward.

I am going to have to fully agree with Ken on this one, your instructor has the plane trimmed to fly the way he likes it. He may have to do some slight trim adjustment to counter the sliders being knocked around during transport, but next time you go up it should only take him a second to trim it out. However if you go in and make any adjustments and they are not right you may be looking at the entire beginning of your next flying session spent retrimming the plane.

RCKen, I completely understand what you are saying and I'll leave it be until I learn to fly well on my own. I was just curious really. Later on down the road I'll try to get it adjusted where the trim can be centered as MikeL was explaining. Thanks.

Bruce, you don't find it fun to have the plane do an aileron roll right after takeoff ? Something has to get my heart beating when I get to the field. Actually I am still so new at flying my heart beats all the way to the field.

Actually, that is one of my standard takeoff maneuvers but I do like it to be MY idea.