Neil Gould wrote:
Recently, Kev posted:
Neil Gould wrote:
When trim is changed, the flight condition changes. There are many clues
about trim settings that the conscious pilot can note, especially when the
trim is set near the limits of its travel. It really doesn't matter
whether the aircraft is FBW, autopilot, or hand-flown.

Total agreement that it's noticeable when hand-flying. As for
autopilot, conditions such as tail-plane icing have caused famous
accidents because the pilots didn't realize where the trim had moved
to. But okay, perhaps they weren't concious enough.

Of course, sometimes pilots *do* forget... thus the number of take-off
accidents caused by the trim being in the wrong place.

This is a matter of making an error in the pre-flight checklist. It has
nothing to do with the mechanics of trim.

Agreed, but my point is that it's difficult to make a one-size-fits-all
statement that pilots would never forget, or not notice an out-of-trim
condition.

Regards, Kev