Using Trim

[Dingy]

Just wanted to start up a new thread at the suggestion of Humble which discussed how and when you find yourself trimming the plane in Aces High.

Having come to AH from AW trim is an entirely new aspect of flight for me and Im finding more and more pilots who are asking, "How do I turn this plane better".  Turns out they have no idea what trim is and as such they spend just as much time fighting the plane as they do fighting the  enemy.

Heres what I do know about trim: having your plane out of trim causes you to lose more E than you should especially during maneuvering.  During normal flight outside of combat, most of my time is spent in one of the auto-trims.  When I spot an enemy, I trim the plane with a bit of elevator trim to keep a nose down aspect slightly in front of the enemy and use elevator trim just a bit to keep the plane from rolling.

Once combat begins, however, I find myself very rarely fiddling with trim.  I try to have the plane as close to optimal performance as I can get it before I enter the fite.

Thoughts from others?

-Ding

[popeye]

I do pretty much the same -- stay in one of the auto trim modes when I am not in a fight.  However, I do trim during combat.  I have manual elevator and manual aileron trims mapped to a hat on my throttle, and use them to keep the plane trimmed as speed changes during the fight.  The advantage of doing this is that it keeps the stick near center, where control is fine (due to stick scaling).

popeye

[Westy]

 Here's how I've learned to handle trim after coming from AW3.  At first I tried to learn to only use manual trim right at the start of the  AH beta and after floundering alot I started progressing ok when I  found out how to use the auto trim feature and stuck with that.
 Now, due to the overall pilot quality in AH being phenomenal, I find myself still using auto trim for regular climbing, diving or resuming level flight but I'm back to learning to trim manually (via thumb switch) when in combat. Anything for that extra edge in a dogfight.

  -Westy

[Sorrow[S=A]]

hint: if you learn you trim your slip (rudder) constantly close to center during combat you will be very shocked at how much E you retain compared to just ignoring it...

[Rocket]

I set my hat up on stickset 2 for trim.  With the tap of a button I can have hat for views or for trim.. Makes a real difference when trying to get the best outta your E.
Also aiming is a ton easier when you are in trim.  It allivates alot of nose bounce and gives the shot that much more of a chance to get there  


S!
Rocket

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[This message has been edited by Rocket (edited 05-03-2000).]

[StSanta]

In the 109G10, you have to trim constantly as trim is quite different even with small speed/power input changes. I lose a great deal of e when I am in bad trim in a dog fight, even though I trim all the time as good as I can.

I suspect there's little cure to it, other than training and being observant, at least for me.



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StSanta
II/JG2

[funked]

Yes auto trim is really useful.

What Sorrow says is absolutely correct.  The planes in this FM have a lot of rudder authority, and even the slightest slip angle (ball not centered) can result in a lot of drag.

I have all the manual trims and two of the auto trims (level and angle) mapped on my HOTAS.

My favorite application is in a dive.

If I will be in a long dive to attack a fighter or ground target, I will push my plane into the dive, then  select auto-angle-trim.  This will trim the plane for this dive angle, and you will have a nice, well-trimmed shooting platform.

Be very careful at the end of the dive.  Because your elevator is trimmed to hold the plane in a dive, and because the increased dynamic pressure at high speed will limit your elevator deflection, you will need some "up elevator" trim in order to make a high-G pullout.