Microsoft Flight Simulator – How to Level Plane / Use Trim

Once you’ve mastered taking off in Microsoft Flight Simulator once you get into the sky you’ll have some other things to manage as well.  One of the most important things to get a handle on is trim.  Trim allows you to level your plane so that you aren’t constantly needing to center, allowing you to effectively fly in a straight line while the plane is leveled.  There are many times where you’ll notice that you might be fighting with the plane to stop climbing or descending.  This is because you need to add or remove trim.  Mastering trim will allow you to fly smoothly and actually enjoy the ride.

Trim can be changed in different ways depending on which control scheme you are using.

How to Level Plane / Change Trim with controller

On the Xbox One controller you can change trim by pressing the Y button and up or down on the d-pad.  If the plane is going upwards automatically you’ll want to press Y + up on the d-pad to balance it out.  On the other hand, if the plane tends to be drifting downwards you will want to do the opposite.

Trim controls on Keyboard

Trim can also be changed on the keyboard by pressing the 7 and 1 keys on the number pad.