Scott Todd

I deleted a similar post earlier because I really don't want to discuss this but I'll add a bit more.

"It is always wrong to generalize". No its not. This is a trainer forum where people without advanced technical Aerodynamic experience come to learn stuff. Big words and complicated terms chase the average reader away.

Way back then..." I built models with three servos per wing. I understood the physics and never mass balanced anything. Not even a thousand models later. Today one servo can get the job done in most cases but I still use two on IMAC airplanes.

I "generalized" the stick free comment for the casual reader. Technically the calculations are done in all three axis, not just the longitudinal one.

I have designed, built, and flown full-size airplanes. I have test flown several new experimental airplanes designed by others. I have consulted on several full-size airplane designs including Race planes. I have degrees in Electronics, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. While not as relevant, I'm also a current CFI. Most full size airplanes I have worked on ARE mass balanced.

I worked a crash investigation with the NTSB where an airplane came apart in flight killing two people (that I knew) because it was repainted and the controls were not re-balanced.

While we often tell the average person the physics are the same, they scale differently (avoiding big technical words). Models are just different. We have NEVER seen a full size airplane bounce down the runway, flip over, nose in hard enough to brake a prop, etc., and fly again in a matter of minutes.

You should do what works for you but 99% of the rest of the world uses good servos and linkages to prevent problems. On full size airplane, we mass balance or over balance to avoid problems but that's a different forum.