FYI- Tabs create drag...not good for a jet.
Would trim have any effect if it's used in an opposite way on a stuck elevator vemergency in a convential plane (eg Cessna 172)?
(my bold)
I think the OP's question wasn't really about jets. Still, I used to fly Hawkers (trim drag probably not a major consideration on this type!) and they have trim tabs in all three flight axis. Not at all uncommon with older designs and those not utilizing hydraulically powered flight controls. Tabs have other disadvantages as well, but so do movable stabilizers. There must be a good reason why "jammed stabilizer" procedures exist. And there was AS 261, the Westwind in Scranton, PA and perhaps others as well.
Pilots have been discussing whether an airplane such as a 172 could be controlled in pitch with elevator trim tab in case of a jammed elevator since long before I took my first lesson in 1983. I thought David36 asked a good question.
One more thing about the Hawkers: They do two things extraordinarily well, descend and slow down! Steady reliable beasts they are too.
