Registered: 06/28/01
Posts: 9142
Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
Originally Posted By: malibu43
FYI - Weasle Keeper, your description of what a trim tab is used for is a little off. It doesn't neccessarily counteract control inputs. This does a pretty good job at describing what it does.
Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aero-dynamic forces and stabilise the boat or aircraft in a particular desired attitude without the need for the operator to constantly apply a control force.
FYI - Weasle Keeper, your description of what a trim tab is used for is a little off. It doesn't neccessarily counteract control inputs. This does a pretty good job at describing what it does.
Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aero-dynamic forces and stabilise the boat or aircraft in a particular desired attitude without the need for the operator to constantly apply a control force.
I don't think I was too far off.
Agree. Your were close. I just thought it was very relevant in this discussion that it usually aids in control inputs and doesn't counter act them.
Some footage that was submitted to the NTSB shows the aircraft wiggle and pitch up violently. In the footage, you can see the tail gear extend, and when the aircraft is over the top the trim tab breaks. The trim tab doesn't appear to break before the pitch up. Jump to 7:30
I've reviewed this video several times and I have to ask, could this have been a case of pilot error? If you notice, he aggressively enters the turn, pulling hard and his wings actually break the vertical plane. It seems like he backs off quickly but shakily (oscillating) then overcorrects and finds himself in a steep climb which ultimately torques the aircraft and dooms it and himself. Could that have been one potential scenario?
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