Can I ask if you actually fly planes? Moving the trim is exactly how most autopilots work. I usually fly the 172 and pitch changes made via the autopilot (I am usually flying with a GFC700) are done 100% via actuation of the trim wheel -- and the trim wheel is also the main control for adjusting control forces to maintain a given pitch attitude.Edit: Reading your comment more closely, I think your concern is more to do with the fact that the trim is actuating the whole horizontal stabilizer rather than just the elevator? There is no separate elevator trim on the 737.
Toutouxc|5 years ago
I understand why it's easier to let the autopilot control the trim instead of messing with the primary controls.
What feels weird is the fact that it's using this whole monster of a mechanism in order to provide the pilot with an artifical stick force.
I get it, the control column is supposed to require more pull force the closer to Vs you get. It's not what real planes do, but it's a safety mechanism, alright. But instead of using a simple servo that would actuate the control column and wrestle with the pilot a little, what they're doing is they're actually trimming the plane nose-heavy so that actual real forces wrestle with the pilot.
Instead of a servo pulling on the control column slightly to enhance the natural pitch-up moment of an overspeeding aircraft they trim the plane nose-up and again, let the pilot push against an aerodynamic-yet-artificial force.
chipsa|5 years ago
If it were designed today, the 737 would have fly by wire, and all the stick forces would be generated by a servo and the computer anyway.