This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Trim drag" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Trim drag, denoted as Dm in the diagram, is the component of aerodynamic drag on an aircraft created by the flight control surfaces,[1] mainly elevators and trimable horizontal stabilizers, when they are used to offset changes in pitching moment and centre of gravity during flight. For longitudinal stability in pitch and in speed, aircraft are designed in such a way that the centre of mass (centre of gravity) is forward of the neutral point. The nose-down pitching moment is compensated by the downward aerodynamic force on the elevator and the trimable horizontal stabilizer. This downwards force on the tailplane (horizontal stabilizer and elevator combination) produces lift–induced drag in a similar way as the lift on the wing produces lift–induced drag. The changes (shifts) of the position of the centre of mass are often caused by fuel being burned off over the period of the flight, and require the aerodynamic trim force to be adjusted. Systems that actively pump fuel between separate fuel tanks in the aircraft can be used to offset this effect and reduce the trim drag.
Fly-By-Wire flight control systems can completely eliminate trim drag at transonic speeds, and reduce it substantially at supersonic speeds by using the tail as a lifting body, adding to wing lift, at subsonic speeds, transitioning to pushing down against the wing as in conventional designs at supersonic speeds, and just at Mach 1 going completely neutral, providing no lift whatsoever in either direction. This not only eliminates trim drag but also slightly reduces induced drag when crossing the sound barrier.
^Huijts, Crispijn; Voskuijl, Mark (October 2015). "The impact of control allocation on trim drag of blended wing body aircraft". Aerospace Science and Technology. 46: 72–81. doi:10.1016/j.ast.2015.07.001. ISSN 1270-9638.
Trimdrag, denoted as Dm in the diagram, is the component of aerodynamic drag on an aircraft created by the flight control surfaces, mainly elevators...
would have been required for the engine-out case causing unacceptable trimdrag. Early configurations put forward for the X-15 show a conventional fixed...
control forces will be greater. Some aircraft have low stability to reduce trimdrag. This has the benefit of reducing fuel consumption. Some aerobatic and...
minimises drag, Finning effort required to maintain depth is additional to the effort to move in the desired direction. Stable level trim is efficient...
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race...
have a trim control for the rudder, and another for the ailerons. The rudder trim is to counter any asymmetric thrust from the engines. Aileron trim is to...
The Yamaha DragStar 650 (also known as the V Star 650 and the XVS650/XVS650A) is a cruiser-style motorcycle produced by Yamaha Motor Company between 1997...
the level of downforce at a given circuit (where the cars are in low dragtrim at circuits like Monza, the effects may be smaller), length of the activation...
in tanks or bags in the wings and fin. The fin tank is used to reduce trimdrag by optimizing the center of gravity, which typically would shift forward...
some variance in appearance, as higher trim lines added different front and rear fascia panels and surrounding trim, with the GSX model getting a notably...
canard configuration; this approach had the effect of greatly reducing trim-drag, while also generating increased lift at slower speeds. Longitudinal control...
size while keeping the sleek body for reduced drag and weight. At launch, there were six distinct trim levels available: LX, Sport, EX-L, TrailSport,...