Idiot Pilot Runs Out of Gas - Lands Cessna on I-81 - CAN'T BECHARGED!!

Roy Smith wrote:

I always visually check the trim mechanism. Set the trim wheel in the
cockpit to the neutral position. Then, during the walk-around, hold the
elevator parallel with the longitudinal axis of the airplane and observe
that the anti-servo tab is fair with the main elevator surface. If the
trim indicator is "whacked", it will be immediately obvious that the trim
tab isn't in the right place.

Good idea. During the preflight, I check the movement, the linkage, and
the piano hinge. It was in a near neutral position, as it normally
always is from the last landing. This airplane normally uses a
relatively narrow trim range.

I am familiar with the effort required at extreme ends of the range,
thanks to an instructor who liked to add extreme trim to unusual
attitudes. G


You didn't say what kind of plane you've got, so you may or may not be able
to do this.

A Beech 23 Sundowner. It's got a stabilator so your advice is helpful
and applicable!

I simply need to add "set trim indicator to neutral" to the end of my
list, before I leave the cockpit for the second trip around.

Thanks!