sonex trim systems

[mike.smith]

Personally ... I like the plans designed lever trim with a tab on the elevator.
Other advantages of the lever/trim tab are; quick to set, less weight, less money, and fits on the side panel out of the way. A quick glance tells me whether I'm set for take-off and it's very intuitive to learn how much to move it for different flaps settings and speeds.

That goes for me, too. Dirt simple, and works perfectly. Infinitely adjustable. About as light as you can possibly get, short of adding lightening holes in the lever.

[DCASonex]

Seems many of the proposed alternatives to the Dial-a-Trim just regain the functionality of the original simple lever. I have mine set straight up when neutral. On landing, flip it back to full nose up after putting in 10 degrees or so of flap and leave it there until on the ground. No need to be ultra precise on setting for takeoff, the forces are not that great even if you forget to reset it. (Been there, done that). Can trim to hands off very easily with slight movement of the lever, not over sensitive. I have auto-pilot that gives visual indication of need to adjust trim on scale of 1 to 10 up or down. Very easy to adjust trim with that lever to keep neutral, Dial-a-Trim or the like would work as well for that, but doubt if it would be a real improvement.

In my setup, have center stick with dual side mounted throttles. Electric flap switch right next to throttle, and the trim lever just below the throttle. One hand remains on stick, the other on throttle. That would not be possible with dial-a-trim or the like, and electric trim would add no benefit over that lever. Have flown a Sonex that had dial-a-trim, Owner tended to leave it set in one position, and missed out on advantage of being able to quickly adjust it when landing.

There are plenty of things that one can improve on Sonex. For example: My electric flaps and hydraulic brakes means all controls are in reach and I can keep shoulder belts tight at all times. That trim lever may look crude, but it works, give it a try.

David A.

[ihab]

When you lowered the flaps there was an immediate strong nose down force. It was nice to be able to trim off most of the pressure with just a quick tug on the lever.

Ah thanks (and same for the subsequent replies by others).

One of the cool things about the mighty Flycatcher, actually, is that if you are trimmed for your pattern speed (90 kias or thereabouts), extending flaps does not require any trim, so you just drop flaps, point at the runway, and land.

Ihab

[paulonex]

Can you provide a few photos of the lever trim system w/trim tab - to see if I can reverse engineer it for the onex
The onex uses the spring system and I'm not a big fan
Thanks
Paul

[fastj22]

Can you provide a few photos of the lever trim system w/trim tab - to see if I can reverse engineer it for the onex
The onex uses the spring system and I'm not a big fan
Thanks
Paul

I'm surprised the Onex uses the spring system exclusively. I would think it would be like the Sonex and allow either. I do understand why the Waiex and Xenos must use the spring.

[n502pd]

Hello again! I have updated my info on my clone of the Dial-A Trim system. Please see my kitlog site at mykitlog.com/josephnelsen, and look for 3-4-15 entries. there are 4 of them. comments??