Trim Conversion

[TWinter]

Hello all,

Fairly new to the forum. Just transitioned from my Cherokee into my 74'  M20E. Life is great!

Does anybody know of a conversion kit to go from manual trim to electric trim? My A&P said he was not aware of a simple conversion without going full blown auto-pilot change over. Any help is appreciated. Getting my hand down between the seats is a small PIA, but it's worth the change from my Cherokee to the Mooney

Thanks in advance.

 

Tom

[KSMooniac]

Tom, welcome to the wonderful world of Mooneys!

I learned to fly Mooneys in an M20F that had no autopilot, but it did have electric trim.  It was great since the trim speed coincided with the flap deployment speed.  Fast-forward many years until I bought my J without electric trim.  I thought I would try to add electric trim since you have to trim Mooneys quite a bit for configuration changes, but I waited and quickly got over my desire to add it.  As an owner, it is another expensive motor that you need to worry about and overhaul eventually, and it eats into your useful load.  

I'd recommend you just try flying it for a while longer and think again if you really need it.  

[Parker_Woodruff]

Keep as few motors in the plane as you can.  So don't get electric trim unless your autopilot requires one.

I have to worry about electric motors for cowl flaps, landing gear, trim, and wing flaps.  None of those can possibly be cheap.

[Seth]

Hello Tom and congratulations on your Mooney!

I concur with Scott and Parker - try flying with the manual trim for a while.  Though I do have electric trim in my current Mooney, my first Mooney, a 1967 M20F, had no autopilot and not electric trim.  I hand flew it everywhere but it was easy to trim.  Unless you are dead set on electric trim, only add it if a newly installed autopilot requires it (for the reasons stated by Tom and Parker).

Again, congrats on your purchase, and welcome to Mooneyspace.

-Seth

[Guest]

Tom, I added the (Aero Trim) electric elevator trim to my 1970 C over 10 years ago, Didn't cost much $600-$700  still works great and never a issue. I don't know if they still sell them since Norm past away but I'd give them a call maybe they have one sitting around. 786-326-8801. Www.aerotriminc.com 

[Ned Gravel]

I am with Parker on this one.  I have an STEC autopilot but manual trim.  The autopilot tells me if it needs any help so I do not feel the need for another motor.  I like the manual trim.

[Oscar Avalle]

I am with Jim and Parker on this one. I considered installing electrical trim, but it is really not necessary.

[Jmdunn123]

Hello all,

Fairly new to the forum. Just transitioned from my Cherokee into my 74'  M20E. Life is great!

Does anybody know of a conversion kit to go from manual trim to electric trim? My A&P said he was not aware of a simple conversion without going full blown auto-pilot change over. Any help is appreciated. Getting my hand down between the seats is a small PIA, but it's worth the change from my Cherokee to the Mooney

Thanks in advance.

 

Tom

[Jmdunn123]

I searched for quite some time and found aero trim to be the only one other than an autopilot add on. After contacting them I discovered that they only make the rudder and aileron trim and no longer make the elevator trim. I bit the bullet and got the stec add on to my stec 30. This was almost 5k but definitely worth the money. The electric trim is invaluable in a go around scenario. I am a large pilot and my butt fills up the seat and trimming with the wheel in ths situation is cumbersome and slow. Stec inlet allows for authorized shops to install this.

[scottfromiowa]

Simple is as simple does...

[TWinter]

I searched for quite some time and found aero trim to be the only one other than an autopilot add on. After contacting them I discovered that they only make the rudder and aileron trim and no longer make the elevator trim. I bit the bullet and got the stec add on to my stec 30. This was almost 5k but definitely worth the money. The electric trim is invaluable in a go around scenario. I am a large pilot and my butt fills up the seat and trimming with the wheel in ths situation is cumbersome and slow. Stec inlet allows for authorized shops to install this.

Thanks for the update..I'll check it out. About a year has come and gone since I originally posted this. I am pretty comfortable with the trim wheel now, but I will check out what you have mentioned. I'm like you with respect to filling my left seat, at 5'11" and 265 lb. I fill my front seat pretty well. Once I get belted in I'm ready for the race with not much wiggle room to spare. The electric trim would be nice, but so would a armrest on the right side..LOL.     Thanks and good luck.  Tom

[Bob_Belville]

I have an STEC Model ST-155. Installed in my '66 E in 1997. Works fine. I even use it now and then. But the manual trim wheel is perfectly adequate. (When I'm using the yoke switches I'm apt to have my right hand fingers lightly on the trim wheel for reassurance that the trim is moving. (My first '66 E did not have electric so the 2500 hours in it may be a factor in my SOP.)

[OR75]

unless you have an altitude hold autopilot and/glide intercept, the electric is an expensive proposition vs. what you really get

if you install or have an autopilot, autotrim is a nice add in

[AmigOne]

I don't know how much effort other guys need to operate the trim wheel, mine is a bit stiff only but going through certain portions of the travel. In my next annual I will ask the shop to make sure nothing is binding. The other problem is that the wheel is too close to the seat and it makes harder to grab. Having said this, the aircraft requires very little trim in flight until you deploy the flaps. I can live with that, one less thing to break.

[Alan Fox]

I don't know how much effort other guys need to operate the trim wheel, mine is a bit stiff only but going through certain portions of the travel. In my next annual I will ask the shop to make sure nothing is binding. The other problem is that the wheel is too close to the seat and it makes harder to grab. Having said this, the aircraft requires very little trim in flight until you deploy the flaps. I can live with that, one less thing to break.

The binding is usually the universal joints in the trim shaft , there are two up near the wheel that will bind over the years , a little penetrating oil and some sweat equity will free them up.....