Why, When & How To Use Elevator Trim | Microsoft Flight Simulator Tutorial

Setting the trim is one of the trickier aspects to learning how to fly a plane in Flight Simulator 2020. This video will teach you the basics of setting the trim for straight and level flight and show you how the trim physically operates in the plane. I'll cover the why, how and when of trimming as well as provide some tips & tricks on how to make the trimming experience a bit better in the game.
#flightsimulator #msfs2020 #fs2020
0:00 Intro
1:00 What The Trim Does
2:28 Many Ways To View & Adjust The Trim
7:35 Applying The Trim In Flight
10:57 When You Should Adjust The Trim

[@MacsWraps]

I was just working on the lesson in the sim. I was having a lot of difficulty. I was able to achieve the required altitude with the trim, but the instructor kept telling to try to and achieve it. I'm not sure, I'm brand new. My trim is on a rocker switch on the yoke operated by my left thumb. Thanks for the content. I was building, and flying fpv drones. I lost three at $500 a pop. I built this pc, I don't think I'll be thrashing through the woods trying to find it! Thanks for the content.

[@manofgodasonofgod3672]

Thanks helped alot even for me who is playing on xbox, I am playing the tutorial and could get using the trim right, just kept failing but straight after watching ur guide, i passed with an A in one try 😅🎉😃👍🏾

[@yubeist]

Please tell me how did you do it? I am about to going crazy with it.

[@Goldmaxx17]

Thank you, one of the best explanations of how to trim, it’s something I’ve always struggled with but it’s hopefully sunk in now ;-)

[@Zaron_Gaming]

Omg thank you for making it so clear. Other KZbinrs I've watched tend to go why it does it and give several examples which deludes the info we need. I really need three or four clear points to remember and follow not a full half hour video. It's so hard to keep track of the points but this is so easy to follow. I have to say it was pretty annoying but fun to learn the hard way. I've grown to really enjoy the trim in my few days of playing and the personal touch it gives you and when I jumped into the Airbus I was so confused and frustrated when it autocorrected my commands. I wish I knew it did it auto. Makes the plane less appealing but hey it'll work out

[@bneil4059]

When I was learning to fly for real I struggled with the trim at first. As I logged more hours it became second nature. Good video.

[@kaisiangst3658]

Such clarity. Thanks! You make a great instructor

[@xtek465]

Thank you Mark. Very informative video. I enjoy your excellent, detailed tutorials and look forward to the next one.

[@FlightSimSchool]

Glad you liked it :)

[@mattm.1274]

Very helpful thank you! As a new simmer, I subbed right away to see more of these. In addition to the lack of tactile pressure feedback, I find the Xbox default controls make the trim even more difficult my assigning a bizarre multi button assignment. Definitely worth remapping.

[@tdfly]

Ty so much, the best explication of the trim !

[@cheungsabrina470]

Clear explanation of how the trim works and its functions in applications! Thank you!

[@FlightSimSchool]

Glad it was helpful!

[@user-zu9cd7wh1r]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@kartal2339]

It is the best video for trimming thanks

[@felixfernandezdecastro6251]

Thanks for the video 😊😊😊

[@smakusdod]

I enjoy your videos, presentation, and delivery. Sincere comment, and thanks for making these.

[@FlightSimSchool]

Always nice to hear, thank you :)

[@mikewills2025]

Thank you very helpful 👏

[@davidfuell6576]

Thankyou Mark, very helpful. I've done a few training flights out of NZPP, either around Kapiti Island or north to the Otaki River and back. As you say, trim control is much easier in real life (even in moderate turbulence) than on this sim. My instructor advised to set power for each phase, then trim for a desired air speed. During climb out and descent/landing approach, usually 70 kias in the Cessna 152. Your advice to let the aircraft settle before trimming is great thanks. "Chasing the needle" is exhausting😅 I will apply your suggestions right away.

[@Geekchess]

Good info - Cheers!

[@paulm5025]

Thank you for this great explanation and advice. +1 Sub 👍

[@BtcSimmer]

Another great video thanks!

[@FlightSimSchool]

Thanks for watching!

[@ashleywilliams1083]

Great video, very clear information! I would love to see an in depth video on flaps!

[@FlightSimSchool]

Noted! I've added it to the list

[@typhoon20032002]

Thanks Mark for redirecting me to this tutorial about trim. The less the joystick buttons the more valuable they are. Two buttons for trim up and down is too much for my beloved Sidewinder which has only 8. I fly the Jets mostly so there must be always spare buttons for reversed thrust, airspeed brakes spoilers ground brakes and full flaps to manage to lose speed and stop on time time on short runways . Somewhere I read that keyboard numbers 7 and 1 work for trimming. . So to return to my question any idea if this combination works or any other that does (for up and down trim?) You do a great job to introduce your students to trim basics cause otherwise one hand will be always on joystick to keep level flight. Trim... the poor man's Autopilot! Wise saying! It would be nice with keyboard commands to control this, we virtual pilots try to apply true conditions inside cockpit where you can not watch the plane from outside unfortunately to adjust trim with external view.

[@moritzstadtmuller5118]

You are great!

[@neilsimmons9582]

Thanks for the explanation. I feel the error I'm making is not waiting until the speed stabilizes before adjusting the trim.

[@tnuhaes]

Thanks!

[@DownTheRabbit-Hole]

The stiffer the spring, the better the trim "Feel". Recommend Honeycomb Alpha yoke or TM Warthog. Some cheaper joysticks are just way too twitchy/bouncy for semi-realistic trimming. RW pilot and instructor. Not affiliated. Also keep in mind, the electronic trim in FS2020 is way way too sensitive on 152/172

[@shethsa]

Wonderful clarity! Can you let me know your button assignments for trim on the Hotas One that i can see you are using? Is it possible to have any 'wheel' type button for trim on the Hotas One - just like the mouse wheel?

[@FlightSimSchool]

I don’t have the hotas one anymore, but regardless of your controller, what I recommend is to use a key that you can use with your hand that isn’t on the stick so you can fly the plane and adjust the trim at the same time. You can use wheel-type buttons, but for the most part I don’t find it works great.

[@D800Lover]

It is not a game, it is a simulator. Big difference. I have games!

[@thevenerablekev1]

Thank you for a very informative and easy to understand video. Are you saying you would add or take away trim to climb or descend, without doing anything else? And is it okay to add trim when on final descent? To hold the downwards attitude.

[@FlightSimSchool]

I would first pitch to the desired attitude with the stick or yoke to get the climb or descent rate I want, and then add/remove trim to hold that pitch. Sorry if I wasn't clear. You can make small pitch adjustments with the trim only, but 99% of the time I'll use the stick first and then trim.

[@thevenerablekev1]

@@FlightSimSchool Thank you! All clear.

[@Dirty-Hertz]

Really useful video. Thank you. I have the trim assigned to the mouse wheel but it only moves in very tiny increments. Does anyone know how to change that?

[@FlightSimSchool]

You can adjust the sensitivity for the mouse, but I'm not 100% certain if it's going to do what you're looking for. Worth a try though.

[@Dirty-Hertz]

@@FlightSimSchool That doesn't work sadly. Thanks for the response though.

[@seemantadutta]

Thanks for a clear explanation. So you apply trim, release pressure, wait, apply release pressure, wait - right? I am having trouble getting my place to get to a near zero vertical speed and if always oscillates between 200 and -200 ft per minute in the vertical speed indicator.

[@FlightSimSchool]

It’s difficult to get to 0, it’ll always oscillate a bit, you don’t need to chase the needle, so long as you stay with about 100 feet up or down

[@Artoconnell]

Fly the plane not the trend, +- 50 is spot on

[@joenick8215]

Thank you for the explanation. I have subscribed your channel! Still, I don't get one point though, the trim control panel in the 3rd person view has this little green area near the mark "TO", what does "that white line" between this green area indicates? When adjusting the trim, should I keep the white arrow (right to the green area) perfectly matched to “that white line” ？ I ‘m a beginner of this game and I'm actually using the T.Flight Hotas 4 Joystick. I always failed in the 7th basic training and faced this problem "You put your plane in a dangerous situation" after adjusting the trim. Hope you can help me. 😉

[@FlightSimSchool]

Hi Joe, the TO mark is simply where you should set the trim for takeoff. As for the tutorial, I wouldn’t worry about it too much, they are known to be buggy

[@karlmercieca6610]

Curiously, what keyboard shortcut should I use to adjust trim?

[@FlightSimSchool]

I'm not sure what the default binding is, but if you look in controls search for 'trim up' and 'trim down' and it'll come up

[@MohammadKhan-ov1cm]

i use HOTAS and had issues with the trim getting out of control, but when i used the keyboard controls NUMPAD 1 and 7 the trim no longer got out of hand

[@FlightSimSchool]

I'm curious, which controls were you using for the trim on the Hotas?

[@MohammadKhan-ov1cm]

@@FlightSimSchool when i was using the HOTAS i was using the "rudder pedals" for the trim on the thrust control because thats how the game automatically set it up. But the trim was constantly out of control like you had showed in your video. Then you mentioned the keyboard controls which i was able to control perfrctly with no issue. Sorry if my HOTAS lingo isnt correct, new to the genre and still learning.

[@nicksangeorge4138]

Hi so maybe you can help me or anyone else but I'm currently playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 on the new consoles. I'm playing on the Xbox Series X only. I know your playing this on PC so I'm not sure if you can help me but the issue that I'm having is when I'm flying in the air for example I'm using the Cesena 152 and most of the time my plane will have trouble staying stable like my plane will keep constantly bank or even turn to the left no matter what when this happens. It is always the left direction when this occurs. It does happen to the right side but barely. I'm not sure if this is a setting issue or a calibration issue or simply a bug that Microsoft needs to fix. This issue is very aggravating and it makes me stop playing this as much as I love Flight Simulator games even though this is my first time ever playing a Flight Simulator game since it was released to consoles. I really need some help ive tried a bunch of trouble shooting steps like resetting settings, uninstalling the game clearing the game cache. I have tried absolutely every thing I can think of. I've spent hours upon hours trying to figure this out and fix this and cant. this is console only and playing a controller only. if you or anyone that can tell me why this is happening to me I would appreciate it.

[@FlightSimSchool]

It's hard for me to tell without seeing it, but if it's only happening slowly and putting the plane into a small roll/yaw to the left, it's normal, due to the way the propeller works on single engine airplanes.

[@dylanstephens3515]

I was doing the backings bush trip, and my plane just kept on going up, really making it hard, your video has really helped me out

[@user-qc6yq1jh4j]

after i set the trim i be flying and then my plane takes a nose dive, and my trim is off could it have something to do with auto pliet?

[@FlightSimSchool]

It sounds more like you might have a dual binding on the trim that's changing it without you realizing it. Might be worth working through all your control inputs to see what's bound to the trim

[@MrSunlander]

I've been miserable as my Saitek x52 efforts have had no joy - at best all it does after all the set-up is to reset the trim to a neutral position. ugh.

[@robzilla730]

SUBBED! I keep failing the trim part in xbox series x version.

[@FlightSimSchool]

It’s one of the most challenging things to do when you’re getting started.

[@robzilla730]

@@FlightSimSchool one of the mistakes I was doing was letting go of the stick and using trim to raise my nose. Instant fail. Your video explains better than in-game. Thanks

[@robzilla730]

@@thedong5383 I passed Trim! Love this game! The more you do it, the better you get!

[@stareatme9983]

Can someone please help me, whenever I set my trim the plane doesn’t care and the noise moves down anyway and the trim goes back to nothing. How do I make the trim stop moving so I don’t have to constantly hold my yoke or keep adjusting my trim every 5 seconds ?????????????

[@FlightSimSchool]

Make sure you don’t have it set to auto trim with the ai co pilot and also check your key bindings to make sure there are no duplicates for the trim

[@parkerpressesplay7123]

man no matter what i do i am constantly adjusting the trim and my nose is constantly going up and down no matter what the trim is at. i really wish this flight simulator did a better job at explaining these things in the tutorials

[@parkerpressesplay7123]

@Revanth When did I say it was pointless? I am aware it's a simulator, I just said I wish they explained more rather than just saying "Do this and it'll work"

[@FlightSimSchool]

Trimming is hard. Been playing sims for over twenty years and setting the trim properly is still difficult because of the lack of force feedback in the stick/yoke. And agreed on the lack of explanations in tutorials, it's one of the main reasons I decided to make these videos.

[@Games-tt9hu]

Why wouldn't you just put the trim on the rudder of the throttle and use the sticks rotation control for the rudder? At least those are separate control inputs on the cheap Thrustmaster HOTAS X and works perfectly in game. That way you have full analog trim.

[@FlightSimSchool]

Yep that's a perfectly legit way to configure it, this is just my personal preference :)

[@Yiroooo]

Trim, how to end up adjusting it all the time and lose fun ^^

[@FlightSimSchool]

Yep, it's definitely a point of contention amongst the flight sim community.

[@Yiroooo]

@@FlightSimSchool Which is why noobs fly US planes in Flaming cliff, I mean DCS ;)

[@JamesDavidWalley]

@@FlightSimSchool There was an add-on for FSX/P3D that would assign a button for "auto-trim" -- you could get into the state you wanted with the joystick/yoke, hit that button, then release pressure on the joystick/yoke, and it would stabilize in that condition. It doesn't seem like there's an MSFS equivalent. (I should add that, although I found it a great idea, a lot of flight-sim "purists" _hated_ it, and claimed that only way to do it was as described in this video.)

[@ricardobermudez1279]

I did that training yesterday and was the worst one... is very confusing. More as I have a joystick, mouse and keyboard so actually did what was shown as not to do in the video...

[@FlightSimSchool]

Trim is one of the most difficult concepts to grasp as a beginner. Took me awhile too.

[@shenmisheshou7002]

The trim in MSFS is the worst function in the game. Using Keyboard Keys is (in my opinion) the only good way to do it that works with autopilot transition and gives a good response with all aircraft.

[@FlightSimSchool]

Agreed, it’s the one thing that still feels like we’re using a sim from the 90s.

[@Despiser25]

The trim is the dumbest part of the game. If you hold it for a MS too long it jumps a mile and if I tap it it takes 50 taps to move a mm. Its just a hat switch nothing fancy.

[@FlightSimSchool]

That's because it accelerates the inputs if you keep tapping it repeatedly, so it's best to apply it more progressively to avoid that effect