I used to trim my planes so I'd need equal elevator upright and inverted thinking it was neutral. Then I learned it may be better to trim for level flight upright so that's how I have my plane trimmed now.

But, I think that when not flying in level upright flight that a tad of down elevator is now needed to maintain a straight path. Is that normal? Like on a downlink after a stall turn, I put in a tad of down elevator. That seems correct theoretically. And, it seems like how my plane performs.

Is that the way to fly with a plane trimmed like that? I would think a bit of down elevator is definitely needed inverted. Would it also be needed on up and down lines?

I don't mind it; I'm just curious if it is indeed how the plane should be behaving.

-l2t aka Ken

Sounds like it's flying correctly. I mix a little down elevator to low (idle) throttle. That way, no need to hold down elevator on downline maneuvers. You probably have some engine down thrust, which help keep the up-lines true without needing to add down elevator. I trim my elevator for perfect level flight at about 75% speed. You will need to feed in some down elevator for inverted flight. More so if you're on the nose-heavy side on your c/g.

Yes you are on the right track.

Trim for hands off level flight at normal flying speed, (usually around 1/2 throttle, but depends on the model). Adjust down thrust so the model goes straight up, then set up a throttle to elevator mix and adjust untill it goes straight down at idle. 2% down elevator is a good starting point.

There are different philosophies. I learned about the neutral setup when I was flying my 110 Sebart. I fly with some IMAC guys and I know at least one prefers to hold 'up' elevator during straight and level flight. He doesn't spend a ton of time there so it makes sense. I personally don't like it but I'm only an intermediate pilot.

Wings generate lift whenever they are moving forward and have a positive attack angle. If your plane can hold itself up hands-off, then the wings are generating lift whenever the plane is moving forward which will need to be compensated somehow - mix or otherwise.

Note that CG has a lot to do with this stuff. Moving your CG around will affect the amount your plane is pulling out of vertical climbs and dives (as well as KE passes).

My airplane is trimmed for straight and level with hands off. I found the CG sweet spot and it needs almost no elevator in verticals. It took a few days of CG tweaking to get there.