Procedure for calculating weight and balance

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

Recently, Kev posted:

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.

Yes, I would say that such pilots are ignoring a lot of information about
the changing flight condition.

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.

The examples that you gave have to do with personal habits. Bad habits --
which is at the heart of your scenarios -- are a separate issue, and
shouldn't be confused with trim or any other aeronautic function.

Regards,

Neil