By Michael Jay Jones

Reaching your cruising altitude, you settle in for a nice long cross-country leg. Holding the aircraft straight and level, you adjust trim to relieve control pressures. Glancing at the turn and bank, you gently move the rudder trim to center the ball, watching your airspeed peak slightly, knowing you are facing squarely into the relative wind. You tweak them both again and marvel at the smooth early morning air. Your aircraft is flying hands off, straight and level. May all your flights start out this way, but you know what happens next!

The Problem

Some minutes into the flight you release the controls, just for a moment, to check the trim. Altitude is right on and that brings a smile to your face but wait… What?… The aircraft is in a gentle (or not so gentle) left hand turn and, of course, hands-off you are now losing altitude! A quick glance across the panel shows part of the problem. You have a quarter tank less fuel on the right side than the left, and fuel weighs about six pounds per gallon! You also remind yourself that you are the only occu­pant in the airplane, on the left side. You quickly bring the wings level again realizing you must have been holding them level for a good portion of your flight; extra work for you and not fuel efficient. Okay, so you switch tanks knowing the situation will improve as the fuel quantity and weight left and right equalize but what about that empty right seat?

This situation is par for the course for most Piper Cherokees and other aircraft that do not have a BOTH position on the fuel selector! Even if there is one, as in most Cessna aircraft, lateral loading is still an issue. Do you have a passenger? Maybe they weigh more than you? Do you have baggage favoring the left or right side of the compartment? Do you have a back seat pas­senger and, if so, which side are they sitting on? Is your aircraft rigged to fly straight and level in calm air? This issue is not re­served to hand-flying the aircraft. If you are using an autopilot, in out-of-trim conditions, it will be working overtime as well!

In Search of a Solution

As an early subscriber to the Cherokee Newsletter, published by Terry Rogers (a forerunner of Pipers Magazine), I would see a device called the “Aero-Trim.” It promised wings level aileron trim, adjustable from the cockpit in flight! I thought this was a great idea! Shortly after spotting this back in the 1980s, I at­tended an AOPA event in Washington DC, not too far from my home near Baltimore, MD. Aero-Trim, Inc. was an exhibitor at that event and I met the company founder, Dr. Norman Smith. “I would love to install this in my Cherokee,” I said. “But I am having the airplane painted and I simply cannot afford $400 right now.” He turned to me and said, “But now is the best time to install it, before paint!” At which point he picked up a brand new kit and thrust it toward me. “Here. Pay me when you can.” I was speechless.

After paint and the installation, plus a month or two of savings, I sent him a check with a letter of thanks. Like the ignition key, or in my case the starter button, I use that electric aileron trim on every single flight. What bet­ter way to invest in your airplane than on something you use on every single flight?

Dr. Norman Smith and the Aero-Trim Company

Dr. Smith was an ex-Navy man, engineer (did engineering work for NASA), entrepreneur, and avid Er­coupe and Mooney pilot. The aircraft he flew had these same trim issues and would not always fly straight and level hands-off. Norman was determined to do something about it. Ever the entrepreneur, he de­vised a motorized, remotely-operated trim tab that mounted on, and inside, the aileron and could be adjusted remotely from inside the cockpit during flight. This enabled the pilot to trim the aircraft roll axis, as needed, for hands off level flight regardless of changes in lateral loading! While the idea was simple in concept, engineer­ing a successful prototype, establishing a manufacturing plan, and getting FAA STC approval was quite difficult!

Norman had a long road to follow to get the Aero-Trim into production and secure the needed STCs. He was basically a one man legal, engineering, development, and sales team, in­corporating family to help carry the load. While Norman had meticulous mechanical drawing skills and engineering prowess, he, nonetheless, had to hire DARs (Designated Airworthiness Representatives), aerial photographers, and flight control engi­neers (among others) to gather the necessary data to satisfy FAA STC requirements. A separate STC would be required for each aircraft type and the work was arduous. Aero-Trim has been granted more than 50 STCs for installation of their remotely controlled trim kits (for both ailerons and rudders) on many of the most popular airframes.

Daughter Elyse, who now runs the company along with hus­band, Eric, remembers the dinner out celebrations each time an STC would be granted. Elyse also remembers being asked by her dad to help with the business when she was very young; still a teenager. She was a jack of all trades, working on a drill press, making and de-burring parts, making instruction books, packing, shipping, answering the phone, helping at the trade show booth, etc. Husband Eric also had many years learning the manufacturing processes, helping out in the shop assembling products, and assisting customers with tech advice or repairs if needed.

Dr. Norman Smith passed in 2008. There was a rough patch for the first year or so with­out him at the helm, but after a brief period of dormancy, both Elyse and Eric have successfully continued to run the operation, providing sales and technical support for AeroTrim custom­ers all over the world! When asked about where the customers are, Elyse points out that they have customers not only across the US, but also in Germany, Ukraine, Australia, Sweden, Norway, and all of South America. Several celebrities also use the Aero-Trim in their personal air­craft. Elyse remembers a wonderful dinner with John Travolta after installation of an AeroTrim!

The Product Today

While the component parts suppliers have changed over the years, the original Aero-Trim designed by Dr. Norman Smith is still available today. It consists of a small, hinged trim tab mounted on the trailing edge of the control surface. The tab is adjusted with a small, motor-driven push-rod mounted through a neatly made access hole inside the control surface. The trim tab position is displayed by a 2 ¼-inch analog instrument with a pointer showing trim tab position and there is a three-position, spring-loaded rocker switch to trim left or right.

The price for the Aero-Trim hardware and STC, as of this writing, is $2300; a reasonable price to pay for something you will use on every flight. Aero-Trim offers the following benefits:

• Saves fuel
• Increases airspeed
• Fly Hands Off
• Added safety
• Stops Auto-Pilot cross control
• Eliminates fatigue
• Keeps wings level

I love my Aero-Trim. It has been trouble free since I started using it in my Cherokee 180, on every single flight, since 1985. Check it out at AeroTrimInc.com.