Trim tab Puns

I have trim tabs on 2 different boats, and I think they make a world of difference! Definitely a great and affordable boat upgrade you can make to your boat.

I have trim tabs on my 19' Seadoo Challenger, and they really help with drivability and comfort. This boat goes +50 mph and the bow would lift up quite a bit when I applied power. After adding the trim tabs, the bow lift completely ended. The trim tabs keep the bow down, making piloting the boat much much easier without sacrificing off of the top end speed. We run about 52mph on the river, and she handles amazingly. These trim tabs are self leveling; no remote adjustments. Instead, there's a couple of settings made mechanically by sliding a bolt into the desired angle of the tab. Set it and forget it - and they're totally worth it in my opinion! This boats planes in about a foot water.

https://preview.redd.it/do6ntfaw5bc81.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d51bb10a11e2321f7c6509fbb06c68c2c0db93cb

The other boat is a 25' Larson express cruiser. These trim tabs have remote adjustments, that help with levelling the ride. I can adjust either the left or right side, or both simultaneously. This boat gets on plane with the outdrive, but the tabs help with comfort by levelling the boat. A nice addition to get a comfortable ride!

https://preview.redd.it/lm27hckz5bc81.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3374407e182c52ad709cd8ab794f5ad18128954

I get how it resists control input but the other function of it is to act as a trim tab. How exactly does it do this?

Ok, this is a question I've struggled with since I first got my PPL. I'm now a CFI candidate preparing for my checkride and I hate that I cannot answer this question in a clear and simple way, even though as a pilot/CFI, I simply don't need the in-depth answer I am looking for, as no CFI's have been able to adequately explain it to me and they're all doing just fine in their careers.

I know what trim is. I know what it does. I know how to use it. But I do not understand how, exactly, it is doing it's job. I can understand how a jackscrew-type trim changes the angle of the tailplane on larger jets. That makes sense. I can understand how a spring adjuster-type trim holds pressure for the pilot. I cannot make sense of a 172-type trim.

Here is my confusion. How can that small trim tab create the forces necessary to keep the elevator where it needs to be, while not simultaneously canceling out the effect of what the elevator needs to be producing? Take for example straight and level slow flight. Yoke back in you lap, elevator raised. Pilot has to hold several pounds of force, let's just say 10 lbs, to keep the airplane straight and level. This pressure is trimmed off via that tab. If that tab is now holding "up" the 10 lbs of force, how is that not canceling the 10 lbs of pressure that's pushing the elevator "down", without resulting in +10-10=0 net gain?

Or to put it another way. If the trim tab is 1/10th the size of the elevator, I would expect it to need to move 10x as much. So if the trim tab moves down 10 degrees, it should push the elevator up 1 degree, but then you'd just have an elevator that's now a squiggle instead of a straight line, but still performing the same useful work as if it was all in line or didn't have the trim tab at all.

Aerodynamically, what is actually happening to allow the trim tab of a 172 to hold it up against the relative wind during slow flight? (Or any configuration for that matter. Slow flight is just an extreme example to demonstrate my confusion using large control deflections).

I have spoken to MANY fellow pilots and CFI's about this, and when they realize what I'm asking, their final answer always seems to be "I'm not an aerodynamics expert/aircraft engineer, and I don't know". Please help me understand!

Thank you all in advance for any help you've got for me! Cheers.

Edit: Got it! Figured it out! Check the top comment chain

So if this is a known issue - my bad, but I tried to look it up and found nothing on the forums concerning this issue. Just wanted to know if people have experienced similar issues.

Whenever I alt-tab out of the game and come back, my trim inputs dont work anymore. I do that frequently during flights, so it has become an annoying bug. The AP doesnt work either. When I hit "toggle trim", the sim suddenly applies all of the trim I added when it was unresponsive, resulting in sudden pitching up and down over 50%. Does anyone know a workaround, or if this is being worked on? Alternatively, I might have to look for the problem in my hardware / software.

edit: it happens on all aircraft, including the DC-6 and CRJ

Hey y’all, need y’all’s advice.

Just started wet slipping the boat this year and got the whole bottom painted and ready to go.

So I just installed trim tabs this week and was wondering how to go about painting them. I’m assuming don’t paint the zincs, do i need to primer first? I know there’s a few types of bottom paint depending on the material it’s being applied to.

I’m just seeing mixed answers on what to put on the metal cylinders and the tabs themselves.

Let me know if you have any ideas thanks!

Hey guys I just bought a Sea-Doo GTX 230, and one of the features on it was that it had trim tabs. How do I adjust the trim tabs, and are they useful for me? I will mostly be riding on calm lakes to maybe some chop. If you know what lake Cumberland is then you know that the chop gets kind of wavy but it’s nothing crazy. So do I need to adjust the trim tabs, or are they just kind of there to help with stability.

I dont know the exact name but is it possible to get replacement tabs that snap the trim piece into the hatch?

Pardon me but I'm used to wind power and not so smart re: our RIB. It's a '07 AB Marine 12 DLX with console, proper seats, 30hp Tohatsu 4 stroke, deep v hull-- a tender off some rich man's yacht. It has Nauticus Smart Tabs sized 9.5x10 that no longer work on one side-- the rubber boot leaked and the insides of the actuator are rusted and it lists badly getting up on a plane. 9.5x10 w/ a 40lbs spring is the correct size to use per the Nauticus webpage.

Bennet Marine has beefier looking self leveling trim tabs and they have two models that could fit, but one is smaller and one slightly bigger. The SLT 6 which is 6x8 and the SLT which is 10x10. I called Bennet and the CSR recommended 6x8 so the boat doesn't "over trim."

That said... the boat came with bigger tabs and they work and are apparently more efficient. I don't want to fill in all the holes, drill new ones, and find out 6x8 sucks and have to do it all over again.

If it's any help, I'm usually solo in this thing, or maybe with my 7yo son, so it's biased to the rear. On the 3 days a year when its not too choppy and just the right temp for the wife, she makes for really good ballast up front.

Thoughts?

Antares 8 owners, do you have trim tabs on your boats? What are your thoughts on how it affects the ride? If you don't have them do you wish you did?

I've heard that the boat actually has a drier ride without them and wanted to see if you think that is true.

Trim Tab (Birmingham, AL) released Mosaic Singularity in early May but I haven't been able to find it anywhere in ATL.

Curious if anyone has run across it anywhere?

I had a fantastic beer while I was out the other night and I'm wondering if any of the local stores carry Trim Tab.

I have a set, I have no use for them. How much are they worth?