Use of the Trimmer

The objective of this lesson is to teach you how and why we use the trimmer in flight.

Learning Points

In the previous lesson (Airspeed Monitoring) we learnt that we should always “fly by attitude” appropriate to our chosen speed. During the exercise, your goal was to hold the glider at various attitudes, to achieve a variety of different speeds. You probably found that the glider was happy to settle at one of those speeds, but the more you tried to deviate from it, increasing amounts of pressure (aka stick force) were required to move and hold the stick. The same is true in real life. Step forward the Trimmer.

There are two types of trimmer, both operated by the left hand and controlled by a small lever, or knob, which moves fore and aft. If in doubt, it is the green one. The aerodynamic trimmer is linked to a moveable tab on the elevator, which moves the elevator up or down into the airflow for any given stick position. These are usually found on ‘wooden’ gliders. The spring trimmer works directly on the elevator circuit, and these are usually found on the more recent gliders. The spring trimmer may also be linked to a lever (it looks like a bicycle brake lever, mounted vertically) on the front of the stick. The effect in all cases is to eliminate the stick force at the chosen position. Hence when flying at your chosen speed, any stick force can be eliminated by adjustment of the trimmer. This makes flying less tiring, and it is much easier to apply the small control movements otherwise needed to stay in balance. For these reasons our aim is to always fly in trim. Moving the lever forwards trims the glider nose heavy. This reduces the forward pressure that you need to apply. Moving the lever backwards trims the glider tail heavy. This reduces the back pressure that you need to apply.

The method of use is always the same:

• move the stick to achieve the required attitude
• wait for the speed to settle, and adjust the stick position again if required
• then operate the trimmer to eliminate the need for any pressure on the stick
• wait for the glider to settle
• retrim if necessary.

Demonstration Scenario

This is one exercise that cannot be shown very well by a pre-recorded demonstration. You have to feel the force!

Alternative Video without animation

About the videos

Multiple versions of the videos are being made available:

• With animation and voiceover.
• Alternative without the animation graphics.
• As recorded in Condor Flight School. These will have messages at the top of the screen, with no additional animation or voiceover – that’s the way the Condor cookie crumbles!

The videos are suited to any device that supports YouTube. If you have trouble loading the video in the browser, click on Watch on YouTube in the lower left corner.

Performing the Exercise

This is your opportunity to experiment with the trim control. If your simulator is linked to a glider cockpit, the trim function should be linked to the trim lever. If you are using a joystick, Condor’s Set-up gives you the option to assign the controls to your joystick or keyboard. It is recommended that you assign it to a lever type of control, so that you have infinite adjustment available within the range of movement.

In the exercise, adopt the attitude that gives you 50kts. When you’re there, hold it, and operate the trimmer to see what happens. In an ex-glider cockpit simulator, you may well find that it affects the stick force, as in real life. Using a joystick, you’re more likely to see the stick move on the screen, and for the speed to change accordingly. This is your cue to ease the pressure on the joystick, and to find the balance of moving the trimmer while you ease pressure on the stick. Small movements are best. Test your setting by letting go of the (joy)stick. In either case, when the trim is set correctly the attitude and speed will remain unchanged. And your flying will be easier.

Further Reading and References

• Gliding From Passenger to Pilot, 2nd Edition: Pages 46-47, 80, 85-86
• BGA Instructors’ Manual, 4th Edition: Section 2, Chapter 8
• BGA Instructors’ Reference Cards: Ex 7b
• Gliding: The British Gliding Association Student Pilot Manual, Section 4.4 and website.