Rudder Trim G1000

[Alan Maurer]

Mooney People, a question.....Flying Ovation with G1000. Airplane has no manual rudder trim. Only the electric switch. I find I am always having to re trim to keep the ball centered. It seems to  drift out of trim frequently. It should stay put once trimmed I think. 

Anyone have any thoughts about this??

Thanks

Alan

N913ND

[mike_elliott]

Unless something is seriously wrong with the linkage system or with the g1000 computer, I can't see how it would actually "drift" Speed changes and air density changes would affect it, as could the g1000 adhrs measuring. Getting a systems test and calibration check in the g1000 might be the place to start. Something simple like resistance on the module connection rack could be the culprit 

 

[LANCECASPER]

10 hours ago, Alan Maurer said:

Mooney People, a question.....Flying Ovation with G1000. Airplane has no manual rudder trim. Only the electric switch. I find I am always having to re trim to keep the ball centered. It seems to  drift out of trim frequently. It should stay put once trimmed I think. 

Anyone have any thoughts about this??

Thanks

Alan

N913ND

This might be something to check by a Mooney expert.

https://www.mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SIM20-124A.pdf

[Jeff_S]

Based on the OP's description, I wonder if this is just the simple changes that will happen in-flight with an Ovation.  You know you'll need right-rudder on takeoff with that IO-550.  But you'll equally need left rudder if you are descending with any speed.  And conditions can change in flight as Mike has suggested.  The OP isn't saying that the trim indicator is moving...just that he needs to re-trim in flight to keep the ball centered.

My approach to this is to ignore rudder trim entirely.  I leave it set correctly for normal cruise flight.  Then I use those pedals down by my feet to keep the ball centered when necessary.  Even with a lengthy climb, if you ascend at roughly Carson's speed (130 KIAS) there is almost no trim needed.  A lengthy descent might require a bit of left rudder, but it keeps me in touch with the airplane to do all this manually.  Steep turns and all commercial maneuvers require some amount of rudder work, but it's good practice.

I am not a mechanical expert by any means so the other suggestions may be good too.  But if you don't think you're in any danger, you might just see if this is the normal yaw associated with different phases of flight before spending any more money.

[IvanP]

Having to adjust rudder trim in flight is common, depending on power settings and phase of flight. I have the rudder trim on Bravo almost all the way to the right on take off and in climb, retrim on leveling off and again with changes in altitude as necessary. On descent under power, rudder trim goes quite a bit to the left and then back to center when configuring the plane for landing. 

 

[Geoff]

Any high performance aircraft will require appropriate rudder input in various phases of flight.  Without rudder trim, I use my feet.  

 

If the trim servo is moving the rudder trim uncommanded then have it checked by a competent mechanic.