At what throttle position do you guys trim your plane for level flight?

I have mine trimmed for level flight at about 1/2 throttle, and when I shoot a landing, I have to keep a little up elevator to keep it from sinking too fast. I've tried without elevator until about 5-10' high, but it comes in pretty hot like that with a nose down attitude which usually ends in a bounce or two. DG

I just apply how ever much throttle is needed.....

it is always changing... upwind..downwind.. etc. etc. etc

Honestly this can vary from plane to plane. What it comes down to is where are you comfortable flying it? Most models will fly level at a wide range of throttle positions if ballance near perfect. I have a FuntanaX 100 that will fly level at almost any throttle position and it does not care if it's upright or inverted Makes inverted low passes a little less stressful.

My Stik is set up a bit nose heavy until I get used to it. I guess, based on what you said, I try adjusting for level flight at 1/3 or less throttle and live with holding bit of down elevator or trim on full speed flights. Sound like the right thing for me to do? DG

I would not enjoy flying like that. I do not want to have to fight my plane to fly the way I want it to. When you say "and live with holding a bit of down elevator" it sounds like you don't want to either. The better ballanced a plane is, like your stick or my Funtana, the more neutral the elevator will be when trimmed for level flight. This neutral elevator position means no fighting the plane and your manouvers will look better and be easier to perform. A properly set up plane can make any novice look good in the air.

Ditto, I don't know why anyone would want to get used to a plane that is balanced improperly to the point that trim is all jacked up. Why set it up a bit nose heavy? All that really does is make the plane behave poorly. Many put in that little extra forward CG to make the plane "safer" when in reality they probably just increased their chance of a broken plane due to poorer in flight performance and faster landings. Just set it where it is supposed to be. The manual/plans, assuming they are correct, will get you very close. Then tweak it as needed based on flight performance.

John, it is just a tad bit nose heavy. My instructor said to leave it that way for now, he said it makes it a bit more forgiving and is well within the Mfg. acceptable CG range on the instructions. It's at 3-3/8" from the leading edge and the instructions say target 3-3/4" with a range of 3-1/4"-4". Maybe I miss stated it in my last message above, but it doesn't fly like it's all jacked out. I haven't tried to adjust the trim for slower level flight. I was just assuming that it would react like my trainer and climb if I applied throttle. I tend to use my last two turns to bleed off altitude in a slightly nose down attitude which I guess is contributing to my speed (hot landings). Maybe I need to keep the nose more level as I reduce throttle and extend my approach so I have a longer glide path and let the plan slow down that way. I don't have a lot of stick time on this plane, and I guess that is also showing. Thanks for the responses. DG

As have been said it depends on the plane and engine config.
Trimming should be done in a calm day against the wind.
Most trainers will not sink as you mention, in opposite biplanes and war birds will sink very fast with lack of power. (Just to mention an example)
Some planes will land very hot which means that they will need a lot of speed to land or they will sink or drop a wing, it sometimes depends of the aerodynamics of the plane and/or the high wing loading.
When landing remember that your elevator stick becomes the throttle and the throttle becomes the elevator.
Each model has a best way to land, so when you are taking a plane for its first flight, it is always a good idea to check at high altitude its stall speed, that will give you a good idea of the speed that you have to maintain when you are coming for the final landing.

Regards.

Alfred.

Just out of curiosity, but what size prop are you flying this plane with? Perhaps a shallower pitch and larger diameter would suit you better. The larger props, when the engine is at idle, will give you a bit of a speed brake effect and help you bleed off speed even as you bleed off altitude.

Not a good idea if you have little time on that plane. Because of the position of the pilot, in a longer leveled approach, it is hard to define the airspeed needed to avoid an abrupt and disastrous stall, the best way to land a hot plane is letting it go down at idle with the nose down (go to idle before you are turning the plane to its landing path, in a high and safe altitude) let the plane loss airspeed but maintain the nose down and when you are at the beginning of the landing area, reduce its speed by applying the elevator to make a nice flair, if it is really hot you can make a couple flairs before the plane touch down, remember that the elevator stick is now the speed control.

Do a bunch of stalls close enough to see them, but a little high, to get yourself very used to how that plane acts when it is to slow.
Balance a stick where the plans show as the other guys have said. Sticks like a little throttle to land anyhow. The elevator speed application does apply but not as much as with a trainer. Fly it down to a low approach, they do not tend to glide in as well as a trainer.
But a stick is a really good plane. Everybody should have at least one! HAVE FUN

trim is on an airplane either full scale or RC to ease pilot workload.....a properly trimed airplane is also better on fuel....and will be a tad faster.....I trim at 1/2 throttle or a tad less to fly at its last heading (no Wind) thumbs off......there is a benefit to an aircraft climbing with power...ie if you have power on your trying to gain altitude...
good flyin to ya

I trim a little differently than most people. I trim for full throttle and full speed. When the plane comes out of a turn, it generally takes nearly a full straight away to gain top speed and reach the speed I have trimmed for.

When I land or am doing touch and goes, I don't retrim for approach speed. I just hold the amount of up elevator needed for the speed I want to go.

I'm still gonna hold to my CG suggestion, but I'll offer another perspective. I have heard of pilots trimming for thier cruise speed, what ever that may be, then for landing, they move thier trim to compensate on thier downwind leg. Once you know the plane this should be fairly striaght forward as you will know you need to add three click of up trim for landing, or whatever. I have never really tried this, but it seems to work for others.

I trim for full throttle and hold "up elevator" for lower speeds. If you fly rightside up with a bit of down trim, you will never forget which way to push the stick while hot dogging around inverted.

Personally, if you have to re-trim at various throttle settings, then the plane is not set up correctly......

there is either CG, thrust, or incidence issues

To solve the climbing with full throttle problem, put a bit of downthrust in the motor till stays at level flight with full throttle. But only after your instructor tells you your allowed to. Remember, at this point in time of your instruction, he's the boss

Hi!
Allways trim for full throttle!

Hi!
Always trim for full throttle!

sort of....
if you trim for full throttle and then bring the throttle back to idle and the attitude of the plane changes... then there is probably a thrust issue.

you should not need to change an airplanes trim dependent on throttle positions....

Flying a plane and having to use down elavator all the time to stay level is down right annoying.
If I had to make the choice between using down or up elevator to stay level I would choose to use up.
Fortunately I doubt that the Big Stick will climb with throttle like some trainers tend to do, these planes are usually fairly netrual over a wide range of throttle settings.
I have never really understood the retrim for landing method, it just seems like it is easier to fly it in.

I had a chance to fly it some more and I think it's just a matter of getting used to a new plane vs. my trainer. I did much better and by taking a longer landing pattern I was able to feather the elevator to slow it down better and keep the nose near level while bleeding off height vs. using my turns to loose altitude and increase landing speed. I also changed from a 11x6 to a 12x4 and that seems to help slow the approach speed as well, and gave me a bit more torque at slower speeds. You all were correct, it didn't climb dramatically when I went from 1/2 to full throttle, it responds much better than the trainer which would climb like the dickens. I did some high stalls and it's pretty predictable, with just a nose over without dropping a wing at very slow speeds similar to my trainer. Overall, I'm very happy with it. DG

once again trim is on aircraft to ease pilot workload.....so you don't have to constantly hold a stick position......
Now when I have full power selected I am taking off, or trying to climb...why would you want to trim that out then have to constantly hold back pressure on the elevator at slower airspeeds...after all when your slow your generally trying to descend...but you want to hold up elevator.....
after you have CG in the recommended range the best way to fine tune CG is in flight....Roll her inverted at 3/4 throttle or more and see what she does if she climbs then its tail heavy..if it requires more down elevator than you want to hold then it's nose heavy...now you want to hold a little down elevator while inverted how much is up to you....
Ladies and Gents I wish you all Good Flyin

Now some people will say this is bad because of the whole Up is down and down is up but a properly set up plane is so much fun to fly. The picture below is a hands off pass

Mr67stang says it all...by the way my first car was a 66