1. Manual Trim Tuning (Legacy)¶

Before Automatic Trim Calibration existed, the trim-following gains were tuned by hand using the procedure below. The calibration tool is the recommended way to set the elevator values - it measures the aircraft’s actual trim response and computes them for you. This page is kept for reference, for the aileron and rudder gains (which the calibration tool does not cover), and for anyone who prefers to tune manually.

1.1 Suggested Starting Points¶

Physical & virtual gains should be configured per aircraft. Reasonable starting values are:

Aileron (X) and rudder gains can usually be left at their defaults - many aircraft have no cockpit trim on those axes, and where they do it is a set-and-forget adjustment. The elevator (Y) trim is used constantly, so Y Trim Gain Virtual is the value most worth tuning per aircraft.

1.2 Tuning the Elevator Trim by Hand¶

1. Fly the aircraft and trim for level flight at cruise speed.
2. In the VPforce Configurator (or a knob assigned to spring/master gain), temporarily set spring to 0% and friction high enough that the stick stays put when you let go. Apply the setting (do not store it).
3. Without moving the stick, use your trim to nose the aircraft down.
4. Watch the nose:
   • If the nose goes up, raise Y Trim Gain Virtual by ~10%.
   • If the nose goes down, lower it by ~10%. It may need to go negative.
5. Re-trim and observe again. The goal is for trim adjustments to have no effect on pitch while the stick is held still. Fine-tune in 5% then 1% steps as you get close.

Remember to restore your normal spring and friction settings when you are done.