Page 26 - Dec 23

“Those who never adjust rudder trim have not yet developed a superior sense of coordinated flight ... ”
when lots of banking and turning is going on for the approach and landing, you likely won’t have to worry as much about this now as you did during steady-state climb, cruise and descent. In fact, leaving the trim wheel alone – although not a perfect technique – will probably yield a ride that is close enough to perfection that the difference is immaterial.
“Gee whiz, Tom! Are you telling me that I need to make rudder trim adjustments virtually all the time whenever I make a configuration or speed or power change?! You’ve
got to be kidding! If I had to do that I’d trade my airplane in for one that is better-rigged!”
Sorry, but yes, that’s exactly what I am telling you. You won’t find a better-rigged airplane in your search, since there’s nothing wrong with the one you’re already flying. It is merely observing the laws of aerodynamics.
There are lots and lots of pilots – not just King Air pilots, but that’s the group we are targeting here – who fly entire flights and never move the rudder trim wheel unless they are facing an engine-out situation.
Are they bad pilots because of this? There are so many other factors that go into measuring whether a pilot is “good” or “bad” that I won’t offer a direct answer. However, this I know: Those who never adjust rudder trim have not yet developed a superior sense of coordinated flight and, at least in this small area, their flying skill can use improvement. It is my belief that they likely have set the trim to be about right for cruise conditions and overlook the slightly out-of-trim conditions they have during other flight regimes.
A very few King Air B200s and 300s were delivered with the King KFC-400 autopilot/flight director system. In this unique and rare system, there was one additional servo, one used for rudder trim. It is surprising to watch the trim wheel rotate without a human hand anywhere nearby! When this system is installed and engaged, the rudder trim always tries to create coordinated, ball-centered flight. If you move the wheel manually while the yaw damper is engaged, the system will soon rotate the wheel back to where it wants it, not where you left it. As you might expect, this can be quite a nice feature when it is adjusted perfectly and it really does create flight conditions with exact coordination. On the other hand, if it is misadjusted, it’s a nightmare. Get a knowledgeable avionics technician to work, pronto, if you can never seem to enjoy perfectly coordinated flight with this system. And don’t confuse the KFC-400 with its predecessor, the KFC-300 that has no rudder trim servo.
Let me close with three additional comments. First, I firmly believe that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of pilots who, when they observe their autopilot-equipped and engaged airplane flying left- wing-down in cruise, and who have unsuccessfully tried to correct the problem by use of aileron trim, having given up and concluded, “That’s just the way it is.” Little do they know that a shot of rudder trim toward the low wing will bring it up.
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24 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
DECEMBER 2023