So I've been studying up on the Cessna 208 and flying that in MSFS2020 for the past week, and I have some questions about using the Trim wheel vs the yoke Electric Trim switch. I have the Logitech yoke and throttle quad, but no hardware trimming wheel - I have elevator trim bound to B1 and B2 on the yoke, which should mirror a real 208 as I've seen on Youtube. In those videos on youtube of the real thing, I noticed the pilot adjusting trim with the yoke switches for most of the approach right up to landing, and I was surprised - I was under the impression you "Set Trim for landing" according to the checklist, and then leave it, using the yoke to do the majority of the work on the glideslope. It never occurred to me to trim during the glideslope since I don't feel like the electric trim on the yoke is sensitive enough? I'm wondering if this is an MSFS settings issue - when using the yoke trim, you can either tap the button a few times (I feel like you get 1% for every 3 taps) or hold it for large sweeping trim moves (about 1 sec hold will give me about 10% trim). Works fine for levelling off and maintaining level flight, but when landing, I'd just set trim to 0% and leave it. Never really experienced the "fighting" the controls that I've read about, but again, that could be an MSFS or Logitech thing? Force-feedback is working fine on the yoke, I can feel the pressure releasing when trimming for level flight after a climb. 

I found online you can 3dprint or purchase a trim wheel that matches the logitech throttle quad - does anyone use this over the yoke trim? The Wheel in the Sim is definitely more responsive, but you need the mouse to move it. Thoughts on Wheel vs Yoke Switches? Will this matter more when moving to larger airframes?

Edited April 10Apr 10 by Kristofski

1 hour ago, Kristofski said:

Works fine for levelling off and maintaining level flight, but when landing, I'd just set trim to 0% and leave it.

This certainly isn't what you'd do in the real plane. In the air, you don't set trim to a specific indicated position; rather, you trim until you have eliminated the control forces.

If you're seeing real-life videos of pilots trimming during the approach, it's likely they're either making speed changes or lowering flaps. Or they're making small tweaks if they discover they're not perfectly trimmed out. In any case: Trim to zero the control forces.

As for electric trim versus manual trim, I can't comment on the 208, but I fly a 172 that has electric trim, and I still prefer to use the trim wheel most of the time - it's just quicker and more intuitive. The exception are situations where I want to have my hand on the throttle - then I'll use the electric trim on the yoke.

 

So if you're trimming all the way down to the runway threshold, do you reset Trim to 0% before you flare? Or leave it at whatever, and flare harder? I feel like I'd be 'fighting' more to flare properly with trim set to nose down?

I suspect this may be more of a piloting issue than a controls issue LOL 

I am planning to practice ILS touch and go's all weekend, so I wanted to make sure I'm not training bad habits. So far, VFR landings have been smooth without needing to trim, I can pretty consistently land below 200fpm, often around 100-150.

1 hour ago, weaklink said:

This certainly isn't what you'd do in the real plane. In the air, you don't set trim to a specific indicated position; rather, you trim until you have eliminated the control forces.

If you're seeing real-life videos of pilots trimming during the approach, it's likely they're either making speed changes or lowering flaps. Or they're making small tweaks if they discover they're not perfectly trimmed out. In any case: Trim to zero the control forces.

As for electric trim versus manual trim, I can't comment on the 208, but I fly a 172 that has electric trim, and I still prefer to use the trim wheel most of the time - it's just quicker and more intuitive. The exception are situations where I want to have my hand on the throttle - then I'll use the electric trim on the yoke.

 

Excellent review.

Just something to consider: the ASOBO elevator trim switch has a design issue. There's a momentary delay, and the result is completely incorrect. For some PC pilots, unfamiliarity with real-world operations, the issue might not be noticeable. As mentioned here, the trim wheel does not have that issue. There should be no difference between the two. In a real airplane, it is instant. Here, the result is an unrealistic reaction. If using FSUIPC, that delay can be eliminated, making it work like the real airplane. Another option is for ASOBO to fix it. I sincerely doubt that. I don't expect they will fix it. Many people aren't familiar with the correct functionality, which can lead to unproductive debates and make it harder to fix. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. 

Another note, we don't trim during flare; the airplane should be balanced in trim below 500 ft.

Edited April 10Apr 10 by LRBS

18 minutes ago, LRBS said:

Just something to consider: the ASOBO elevator trim switch has a design issue. There's a momentary delay, and the result is completely incorrect.

Good point - this makes trimming with the trim switch extra finicky in MSFS.

53 minutes ago, Kristofski said:

So if you're trimming all the way down to the runway threshold, do you reset Trim to 0% before you flare? Or leave it at whatever, and flare harder? I feel like I'd be 'fighting' more to flare properly with trim set to nose down?

Not sure what you mean by being trimmed nose down. If you mean that you're having to hold back pressure on the yoke - that would mean that you're out of trim and should trim nose up to eliminate that pressure. And no, you shouldn't be "resetting" trim before the flare.

4 hours ago, Kristofski said:

do you reset Trim to 0% before you flare?

You never procedurally reset the trim to "0%".    Required trim is dynamic.  The trim setting that is required for any given phase of flight (including approach) is derived from many factors; including your speed, rate of descent, flap setting, weight, etc.   As said above, trim is required to remove control forces. The only exception to that might by very late final / the flare, where it's not practical to still be trimming, because you're so close to the landing phase, and also because trim by it's very nature is a 'fine' adjustment - during the landing phase, you require greater (and faster) elevator authority than trim can provide. 

Edited April 10Apr 10 by JYW

5 minutes ago, JYW said:

You never procedurally reset the trim to "0%".    Required trim is dynamic.

I suppose the exception to not setting trim to a certain position is take off trim. How is take off trim handled if doing touch and goes? I am thinking more of small GA aircraft. Obviously trim is set for the approach. Is it reset to 'take off' setting on touchdown? This seems it could be difficult while doing everything else and maintaining direction or is it left at approach settings and adjusted on take off to remove forces as usual?

6 hours ago, LRBS said:

There's a momentary delay, and the result is completely incorrect... If using FSUIPC, that delay can be eliminated

I do feel like the lag in the electric trim on the yoke is what causes my issue with using it; I am using FSUIPC for P2ATC, would love a to know the fix/get a link
 

5 hours ago, weaklink said:

Not sure what you mean by being trimmed nose down. If you mean that you're having to hold back pressure on the yoke - that would mean that you're out of trim and should trim nose up to eliminate that pressure. And no, you shouldn't be "resetting" trim before the flare.

I guess I just thought it was easier to set it to 0% and forget it, just focus on the PADI use the yoke and throttle. I do think I'm pushing more than I have to be to keep an even rate of decent and airspeed, so I'll give it a try with the electric trim

Anyone think those 3d printed trim wheels are worthwhile?

5 hours ago, Kristofski said:

I do feel like the lag in the electric trim on the yoke is what causes my issue with using it; I am using FSUIPC for P2ATC, would love a to know the fix/get a link

In the FSUIPC directory, look for FSUIPC7.INI, open it with Notepad, and find [Buttons] and change to ButtonRepeat=20,1

Speaking of "trimming", ASOBO also has that typical name convention that makes difficult to glimpse the purpose of some parameters in "flight_model.cfg".

While not in a more clear / aerodynamics oriented way, ASOBO still allows, for instance, for some sort of default trim tab settings, aka ground adjustable trim tabs, even when the aircraft doesn't allow for pilot trimming of a given controlm surface.

The text bellow was synthesized with the help of Gemini 🙂

==== Transcript from Gemini bellow ====

 

In Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, the SDK documentation specifies two primary parameters within the flight_model.cfg file—specifically under the [FLIGHT_TUNING] section—to define the neutral, "hands-off" trim positions for the ailerons and rudder.

These are essentially "ground-adjustable" trim settings that offset the control surfaces to compensate for engine torque, P-factor, or airframe asymmetries without requiring pilot input during flight.

---

Core Parameters for Default Trim

The two parameters used to implement default trim tab settings are:

Parameter	Description
aileron_trim_effectiveness	While this scales the strength of the trim, the actual neutral offset is often defined by the aileron_trim_neutral parameter (or by setting a default value in the aircraft's state).
rudder_trim_neutral	This defines the default position of the rudder trim in degrees. Positive values usually indicate a right-trim offset.

---

Implementation Details

According to ASOBO's modern flight model standards, developers should focus on the following entries in the [FLIGHT_TUNING] section of the flight_model.cfg:

1. rudder_trim_neutral

   • Unit: Degrees

   • Purpose: Sets the zero-point for the rudder trim. If an aircraft naturally pulls to the left due to engine torque at cruise, you would set a small positive value here to simulate a fixed trim tab that centers the slip indicator.

2. aileron_trim_neutral

   • Unit: Degrees

   • Purpose: Sets the zero-point for the aileron trim. This is used to balance "heavy" wings or lateral imbalances in the flight model.

---

Important Note on Legacy vs. Modern

In earlier iterations of the SDK, developers often used aileron_trim_limit or rudder_trim_limit to restrict the range, but for MSFS 2024, ASOBO emphasizes using the _neutral parameters to establish the "rigging" of the aircraft.

If you are trying to simulate a physical trim tab that is bent on the ground (and not adjustable by the pilot in the cockpit), you should also ensure that the available toggle for that axis is set correctly in the [CONTROL_SURFACES] section:

• rudder_trim_available = 1

• aileron_trim_available = 1

Pro Tip: If you want the trim to be "fixed" (non-pilot adjustable) but still offset, you can set the available parameter to 0 while keeping the _neutral value set. However, some developers prefer to keep them available but simply hide the keybindings to simulate a factory-rigged feel.

IRL in the Caravan one of the good tricks is to actually be CONSTANTLY trimming in the flare.  
 

The elevators get heavy as the plane slows down, and as I pulled the power back in the flare I would just hold nose up trim till the wheels or floats were in contact.  Then the elevators don’t get super heavy as the speed bleeds off 

11 hours ago, bailout said:

I suppose the exception to not setting trim to a certain position is take off trim.

Yes, that is correct.  👍

Why is it not recommended to trim an airplane until touchdown? 

 

I totally disagree with that "technique", trimming during flare. In a go-around situation, as power is added, the airplane's pitch change creates forces that are hard to counter quickly, leading to unnecessary workload, potential tail strikes, or even a momentary loss of control. As I mentioned before, the airplane should be properly trimmed, preferably by 500 ft, or just stop trimming below 100 ft.

During flare, smooth back pressure will do it. If you need trimming during flare, it's a sign of something wrong. While flare is dynamic, power, airspeed, lift, and attitude are changing rapidly, we emphasize/teach manual control inputs rather than trim in these conditions. There are statistics showing that airplanes crashed or struck the tail during flare due to the use of trim.

Spent the day yesterday going through ILS landings for practice with and without AP, and I found that there were times I was trimmed nose down on the glideslope and had to flare more/pull harder at the end to slow enough for a softer landing - I was coming in above 200 fpm a lot. I felt it was too fast, like the flare wasn't smooth unless you reset the trim. When I wasn't worrying about the localizer before I felt I'd come in slower, more of a glide, and by the time I cross the threshold I was already more level and needed less flare to slow. I found I was resetting trim to 0% after putting the landing flaps down, at around 1000ft give or take.

On 4/11/2026 at 7:03 AM, LRBS said:

As I mentioned before, the airplane should be properly trimmed, preferably by 500 ft, or just stop trimming below 100 ft.

So on a clear day with no wind, would properly trimmed for landing be the same as the trim setting for take off, which is at or around 0%? My assumption is yes, since that's the default for the airplane to have good control and lift at lower speeds? 100-50ft above the runway, wouldn't you have more control over the plane with trim set for T/O, than still set for descending the glideslope? That would better support the go-around?

1 hour ago, Kristofski said:

.

So on a clear day with no wind, would properly trimmed for landing be the same as the trim setting for take off, which is at or around 0%? My assumption is yes, since that's the default for the airplane to have good control and lift at lower speeds? 100-50ft above the runway, wouldn't you have more control over the plane with trim set for T/O, than still set for descending the glideslope? That would better support the go-around?

No.  You trim it so the controls feel neutral, you aren’t looking for a specific position on landing.
 

Despite the other comment, trimming in the flare on the Caravan is extremely common, almost every pilot I know that flies it, does it.  In over 1000 hours of flying Caravans, I’m pretty well versed in its quirks, and that’s one of them.