I just installed a carbon fiber trim wheel from Erik Van Veenen at Life Is Better Flying Maule Airplanes. https://www.facebook.com/63611824319568 ... 727329295/ I wanted to share a few photos and a review only after I had a chance to fly the airplane. So first off it does look nice. I do like the look of carbon fiber. The weight is approximately 6 ounces lighter than the original aluminum trim wheel. The weight reduction is nice but what I really like is the tactile feel of the trim wheel. I now can make fine tune adjustments with just one finger on one of the knurl projections on the trim wheel. This may not seem very important to some but I do fly cross country at least once a year from Wisconsin to Idaho without an autopilot. The old trim wheel was functional but I would find myself concentrating on making sure that I was actually moving the trim instead of just sliding my hand over the smooth circular wheel. This was definitely more pronounced when wearing light gloves while flying on skis. So I hope this may be helpful to those trying to make upgrades to their Maules. I am a 14,000 hour pilot who just retired from a 34 year Army aviation career and now do some part time charter in piston twins. I am continuously trying to upgrade my M4-220 to facilitate my real retirement job of fly fishing wherever I can.

Nice! It's bound to be more rugged than the plastic one as well.