Ameyam flutter analysis is an aeronautical engineering displine in itself, careers are devoted to aeronautical flutter analysis.

Therefore the facts of what can happen and what works in its prevention gets lost in the discussion of theory and argument.

In the context of our model airplanes and the range of speeds at which we operate them, yes flutter can happen to any portion of the airplane with the most common being in order: ailerons-elevator then rudder.

I agree gap sealing has little effect in inducing flutter and trying to cure flutter with ever more expensive servos is most often disappointing.

Poor linkage geometry as well as sloppy linkage and strutural elasticity of both the airfame and the control surface are all contributors however you can still flutter after 'fixing' all these things.

But its easily fixable

Its called mass balance. First dicovered in the twentys When during the Pulitzer races and internationally during the Schneider Cups races and simple mass balance stopped the carnage of lost control surfaces and flailing wings.

It will do the same for us if your airplane ever demonstrates the onset in flight. It only takes moments to attach one to any of the three axis's for most smaller airplanes like Charlie P and I posted.

For years frequenting the old SWRA and later PCPro warbird races sometimes up to 13 races a year all over the soutwest where arf's with roughly twice the normal displacements were the norm, flutter incidents were constantly happening both in practice and heats. I took to makeing up pocket fulls of the simple widgit I posted in my first post and gave them away to folks who survived the first incident so they could make their next heat. It never failed and I seldom went home with any.

Its also rather simple to imbed mass balance on any airplane that has aerodynamic balance surface forward of the hingeline. Works just as well except that requires a tiny bit of surgery and adding a pittance of weight during assembly/construction and folks will fight that to the death untill they do suffer a loss to flutter.

John