Boeing 247 trim tabs

[Stephan Wilkinson]

The Boeing 247 was supposedly the first commercial airplane to have trim tabs movable in flight. Virtually every source I have says that they were on "the control surfaces"--assumedly the rudder, elevator and an aileron. Yet one source (Henry The Boeing 247 was supposedly the first commercial aircraft with trim tabs movable in flight rather than being solely ground-adjustable. Every source I have says that the trim tabs were on "the control surfaces"--assumedly the elevator, rudder and an aileron. Yet one source, (NASM curator F. Robert van der Linden's book "The Boeing 247: the First Modern Airliner") says very specifically that the trim tabs were mounted on the left aileron and the rudder. No mention of an elevator trim tab, which makes no sense to me, since the elevator is the very first place I'd put a trim tab.

I've found other errors in van der Linden's book--he's obviously not a pilot--so I wouldn't be surprised if he was wrong.

Does anybody know if the Boeing 247 had elevator trim?

[airknocker]

Appears to be some type of elevator trim along with rudder and aileron.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaiserjp/ ... Y8W-cvtfmQ

[Stephan Wilkinson]

Thank you, sir. Just as I expected.

Stephan

[airknocker]

You're welcome. If memory serves me, your writing has entertained and informed me for 50 years or more!

[Stephan Wilkinson]

I'm still at it, though now pretty much exclusively for Aviation History Magazine. I've done thirty-odd cover stories and features for them over the last decade, plus a lot of smaller stuff. You can find it all on their publishing company's website, historynet.com, if you're interested. I'm delighted that you're a fan...

[JohnB]

While we are praising Mr. Wilkinson...

Stephen's writing (and editing) of FLYING magazine (in its long gone glory datpys), taught me a great deal about the history of general aviation.
Pilot reports of (now) Classic types...including a P-51, history pieces and adventure features, he did them all.
He also got a chance to fly with Ernie Gann in an AA-marked DC-3.
And he was the long suffering editor of Gordon Baxter.

If anyone is interested in that sadly neglected field of study, you can peruse all the back issues via Google's library.

His feature on games arctic bush pilot Weldy Phipps in March 1971 is well worth reading.

[airknocker]

Here they are:
https://books.google.com/books?id=d5MrN ... ues_anchor