DaleB

DaleB

Well Known Member
I've pretty much planned all along to put a 4-way hat switch on the pilot side stick for electric elevator and aileron trim. I have, however, heard a few mentions of people accidentally bumping those by accident. Of course it would be simpler, less work, faster build, etc. if I just put the trim on the panel. I don't plan on anything other than PTT and maybe A/P disconnect on the right side stick, and I'll be able to disable those.

What's the consensus? If you have trim on the stick, would you ever give it up? And whichever way you did it, do you wish you'd done it the other way?
 
I have trim on the stick and would never get it up, it is very intuitive and means you can focus on other tasks with out the need to move a hand and find the trim on the dash.

I have not found bumping the top hat to be an issue at all.

Cheers
 
Eddie, I have the Infinity sticks and the coolie hat switch.

Perhaps I have bumped it twice in 140 hours. I don't find it difficult to arm the AP after the unintended disco.

I am more cautious now and expect that it will happen less over time.

It is in the right place there, if you ask me.

My two...

:) CJ
 
2 cents also.

We have trim on the stick. It is the Ray Allen grip with PTT and the four little buttons on top for trim, up, down, side to side. Works great have no problem with it other than we are putting a new G3X system in and may want to upgrade to the grip with the two other switches on top. The CWS and go-round may need to be on the stick too. Have not gotten that fair just yet to make the call, but would not give up trim on the stick.
Yours. R.E.A. III #80888
 
Love my coolie hat---------even changed out the co-pilot side to include one there too.

11-10511.jpg
 
eddieseve said:
I have trim on the stick and would never get it up, it is very intuitive and means you can focus on other tasks with out the need to move a hand and find the trim on the dash.

I have not found bumping the top hat to be an issue at all.

Cheers
Click to expand...

I agree. With the trim on the stick trimming the airplane is very intuitive and really reduces my workload, especially when doing an approach. This is workload reduction is very much appreciated in actual IMC. I have the Infinity grips with the coolie hat for my trim and would not want it anywhere else.

My 2 cents.

:cool:
 
I think most of the complaints have centered on passengers putting books, etc. on top of their stick and accidentally activating a button.
 
I have a hat switch on my stick grip for trim on my RV6 and my friend's RV8 has the 4 separate buttons on the stick grip for trim. I kinda prefer the 4 buttons myself but the hat switch does work pretty well.
 
Coolie hat

It's a Tosten. Great device. I shortened the front stick in the -8 (? too much) so top of the grip is between my knees. In taxi I grip the stick from the top, sometimes inadvertently changing trim and have taken off with full nose up trim. Not a real problem but not a welcome situation either. Working on a second bent stick to get grip up and back where it can be gripped normally. Have loved the coolie hat in other aircraft. Think I'll love it with the new stick too...
 
I have the Infinity stick. Other than the 2-way toggle on top, this stick is almost identical to the stick of in the F-4, which I flew for 2069 hours. I love having the trim coolie there on top, right where it's supposed to be.

I installed the left hand stick on my side, and the copilot side has a right-hand stick. I tied all the right stick switches' ground wires to a guarded toggle ground switch. That way, I can deactivate the copilot stick switches if needed (aka the Grandfather Switch).
 
I have a hat switch in front seat and back. It operates the elevator and aileron trims. Like it very much.

Grip also has starter button, AP button, flap toggle and comm button.
 
I like the hat switch on the Infinity grip, however, in formation flight, I find that the slight hand motion required to move my thumb can lead to PIO.

I mounted a second pitch trim switch on my throttle grip to eliminate this problem, allowing me to keep my hand position fixed on the stick.

I could shorten the stick some to mitigate this but it my knees would then limit the stick travel or accidentally depress buttons on the stick.
 
Regarding the AP disconnect on the right stick, I wouldn't do that. If you want a second button for the right seater, put one on the panel. The reason is that whomever is in the right seat probably isn't that familiar with the plane and will probably turn off the AP every other time they try to hit the PTT. Also, it makes it very easy to wire a quick disconnect. (I used RC battery connectors for the right stick's PTT and it has worked great in 650 hours.)

As for the trim, not that you care, I went with manual trim simply because I didn't want the complexity of all the wiring, relays, etc. I have had too many problems with electric trims in past planes that I didn't want to bother with them in my -9. That was just me.
 
Bill Dicus said:
It's a Tosten. Great device. I shortened the front stick in the -8 (? too much) so top of the grip is between my knees. In taxi I grip the stick from the top, sometimes inadvertently changing trim and have taken off with full nose up trim. Not a real problem but not a welcome situation either. Working on a second bent stick to get grip up and back where it can be gripped normally. Have loved the coolie hat in other aircraft. Think I'll love it with the new stick too...
Click to expand...

Why did you shorten the stick? Did you notice a change in the forces and control harmony?
 
If memory serves me correctly (seldom does) all the functions on the stick control their devises by making contact to ground. What I did on the RV-10's right stick was run a wire from the grounding side of all switches in the stick,to a switch on the panel labeled "co-pilot disconnect". With this switch in the open position grounding cannot be accomplished. If a pilot was sitting in the right seat simply moving the panel switch to the closed position gave the right pilot full function of his Infinity grip.
We really liked this function when carrying passengers that had no piloting skills.
 
I have Infinity grips in the Rocket and the -8 and find the hat switch lacking in feel. I would like to remove the switch in favor of a higher quality "fore/aft" piece, as I have found aileron trim unnecessary on the tandems. I do find great utility for the trim on the stick however, but would never allow a passenger the same level of easy access - they have a toggle on the sidewall instead. The GIB needs to really make a conscious effort to use the trim, which is how I want it.
 
HERETIC

G'day folks,

Most of my flying had been with a 'hat' trim switch on the stick. So a 'hat' switch with electric elevator & aileron trim was in our RV-7 build plan, along with dual throttle, prop & mixture quadrants (& IFR, 200hp, extended range, etc, etc).

I reconsidered when faced with the time, $ to build same, and 'needs' vs 'wants'. Then I compared my experience with manual and electronic trim in general aviation aircraft, and far preferred the manual trim - seemed to me more 'tactile'. So I opted for the standard Van's elevator trim cable & spring balance aileron trim.

Also I opted for standard Van's friction throttle, vernier prop & mixture cables, centre mounted below the panel.

As a final act of heresy, I placed the flap switch centrally on the spar box, just aft of the fuel valve, and protected it with a 'U' guard. I look at the flaps to check operation.

So far we are happy with a relatively light & simple VFR RV-7 and adapted easily & quickly to the lack of HOTAS etc (including during formation flight). Usually I fly from the right seat. I cut the left stick & replaced it with a right stick with shim, and secure it with the standard bolt, washer & nyloc. Therefore both sticks are quick & easy to remove.

Regards
 
Shortened stick (coolie hat trim)

SBlack: I set my front and back sticks parallel according to Vans' instructions. The Tosten grip is fairly tall, so the front stick had to be shortened to fit beneath the panel at full nose down elevator. Then the rear stick was shortened as well so it didn't hit the back of the front seat too firmly (Vans' demonstrator has the paint scraped off the back of the front seat, by the top of the rear stick). I also thought it would be nice to have a slight mechanical advantage over the rear seater, just in case. Got a second stick from Vans which we'll bend to bring the grip aft and up, so I can get a good normal grip with hand and forearm clearing thighs/knees while the grip stops short of my switches along the lower panel at full down elevator. This should allow casual flight with (my) hand at the bottom of the grip/top of stick junction, which I find comfortable. Grip is set up with push to talk on the trigger, CWS on the left button, freq swap on Rt button and ident by small button under the trigger for transmit. Like this combo! Have seen a number of -8's with bent sticks, ? for similar reasons. Incidentally my front stick could not be adjusted farther aft as the stick just contacts the front of the seat ramp when the elevator horn contacts the up stop in the tail. Good luck with your set up!
 
SteveHRV7 said:
I love the hat. I avoided the bumping or run-away situations by using TCW Safety Trim.
Click to expand...

And I get similar protection using the MakerPlane M-PWR-2AT trim controller, which is in a smaller package, easier to wire and provides auto-trim for Dynon SkyView systems for the same price. (Disclaimer... I designed it!).
 
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