Combat Trim/ Manual Trim question.

[Owlblink]

*salute* hello seasoned players!

I'm a returning player who is at most a novice sim pilot. I've been studying up on the forums and on the HiTech training page. I have read the section on Combat and Auto Trim functions and decided to experiment with them in offline practice. In a nutshell, it was suggested to leave the CT on by default and to utilize the Trim for Speed and Trim for Angles functions to improve performance. The author suggests to try diving down to a target using Trim for Angles, then to disable CT and pull up to target, leaving you with a stable gun platform. However I noticed that as soon as you pull on the stick or switch the Trim for Angles off, CT will turn back on. Is the author's suggestion out of date or have I misunderstood him?

In addition, most of the time that I disable CT, I'll notice all of the trim settings going to neutral. I'm guessing this is in relation to my Saitek X 52-pro being set up to use the rotator buttons for trim; sometimes, however, the trim will not auto center, oddly enough. I've also noticed that my trim controls will not respond at all on many occasions.

To sum it up, are there any tricks I'm missing on how to improve my trim for a more stable gun platform, based on my information above?

[Ghastly]

http://trainers.hitechcreations.com/flightoptions/flightoptions.htm

I suspect that you have the option "Auto Combat Trim" checked on, as my system does not re-enable combat trim (ever) unless I hit the key combination to enable it.

P.S. Just in case you didn't mean the trainers site when you mentioned reading the section, this site is a gold mine... http://trainers.hitechcreations.com/
<S>

[mtnman]

If your trims are set to the dials on the X52, they need to be moved through their full range whenever you calibrate.  If you don't do that, they won't work.  They also won't have any effect if you're in any of the three "auto" modes (auto-angle, speed, level).

[FLS]

Owlblink the article you read probably assumes that you don't have trim mapped to analog controls. When you use keyboard trim the auto trim sets the proper trim position for your current speed and the trim stays set when you turn auto trim off as long as combat trim is also off.

When you map trim to analog controls the combat trim and auto trim will override the analog trim. Auto trim will override combat trim.

You might find it easier to unmap analog trim and just use the auto trim on angle to set your trim or just use combat trim for now.
 

[Owlblink]

http://trainers.hitechcreations.com/flightoptions/flightoptions.htm


P.S. Just in case you didn't mean the trainers site when you mentioned reading the section, this site is a gold mine... http://trainers.hitechcreations.com/
<S>

Yes, it was the combat trim article on the trainers site which I was refering to. The site did specificly mention that he leaves the combat trim enabled as the default. If I turn mine off while I have one of the other auto trims on and then either move my stick or cancel tha auto trim I'll see the combat trim light come back on. I'll try disabling it in the options, also I'll see what happens without using the analog settings. Thanks:-)

[FLS]

When you turn combat trim off as default you'll still have the option of turning it on and off while flying.

[zmeg]

    If you have all 3 axis maped to analog, combat trim does nothing at all.

[Ghastly]

    If you have all 3 axis maped to analog, combat trim does nothing at all.

Incorrect (This is how I have mine set up.)

If you have all 3 axys (or actually, any axis) mapped to an analog control, the analog settings will take effect only when none of the autopilot modes are engaged. This includes combat trim.

The "combat trim override" can be a real blessing when you can't figure out where you need to trim to (which can easily happen in a plane you're not very familiar with) and you just need to get some semblance of control of the trim state while you figure it out (i.e. engage auto trim, watch the indicators, and move your controls to something near that, and fine tune from there.)

<S>

[Owlblink]

Okay topguns,

   I played around with the settings and finally figured out how to get my set up to respond well. I appreciate all the help 

Trimming out a heavy Energy Fighter seems tricky though, got to trim down elevators just enough at high speeds to make for a stable deflection shot. Guess all of that and remembering how to hit the broad side of a barn will come again with practice 

S!

[Owlblink]

Okay topguns,

   I played around with the settings and finally figured out how to get my set up to respond well. I appreciate all the help 

Trimming out a heavy Energy Fighter seems tricky though, got to trim down elevators just enough at high speeds to make for a stable deflection shot. Guess all of that and remembering how to hit the broad side of a barn will come again with practice 

S!

[Roadblck]

Okay topguns,

   I played around with the settings and finally figured out how to get my set up to respond well. I appreciate all the help 

Trimming out a heavy Energy Fighter seems tricky though, got to trim down elevators just enough at high speeds to make for a stable deflection shot. Guess all of that and remembering how to hit the broad side of a barn will come again with practice 

S!

Can you share what you did to get it to work?  I've had this same problem, after reading the same article and was unable to get the behavior they described.  I have some of the trim controls mapped to buttons (a hat actually, but it behaves as discrete button presses) on my throttle, but, it isn't set to an analog axis (as I understand it, by analog, you guys mean that I've got it mapped to something like one of the rotary wheels on a Saitek throttle, for instance).  The best I've been able to do, as someone here mentioned, is set the auto trim for angles, and get a rough idea of where the trim settings move, and then when I move the stick (and they revert back) I try to manually adjust them back to where they were.  This is generally too time consuming.

[FLS]

I don't see how your trim settings can revert if you don't have trim mapped to an axis. If combat trim and auto trim are off your trim settings shouldn't move unless you move them.

[Roadblck]

I don't see how your trim settings can revert if you don't have trim mapped to an axis. If combat trim and auto trim are off your trim settings shouldn't move unless you move them.

I'll double check my settings when I get home, to be sure.

[FLS]

if you have more than one controller listed be sure to check all of them. If everything looks good try unmapping trim from the hat and see how it works with just the default keyboard keys.

[Roadblck]

if you have more than one controller listed be sure to check all of them. If everything looks good try unmapping trim from the hat and see how it works with just the default keyboard keys.

Will do.  It's possible that it's mapped to another device that's connected (I have a few), and I am not aware of it.