BlueSkyy,Bill,Ben,Dick,Et Al.....Very good commentary on balancing of surfaces.......want to know what weight the servo is holding up on a surface.....put a spring scale @ T/E edge and thats the weight a servo will have to hold up when powered up......thats a "general" method....one must also consider where the surface is driven from(Mechanical Advantage or disadvantage)...while a full scale usually has all linkages hidden our models many times have all linkages exposed which gives a better mech advantage by putting control horns on the bottom (side in case of rudder) to move the surfaces.....I fly all big warbirds and havent balanced any of the surfaces...only reason being is havent a need to do so....no problems have been encountered.....part of the answer might come in the fact as ones plane becomes airborne aerdynamic forces help neutralize some of the weight the surfaces have.....I use lots of washout about 2*-2 1/2* and use a slight droop 1/16" for my ailerons to "load" them up...just as full scale planes........I've found what causes the most trouble is sloppy drive systems.........thats the biggest culprit...... during routine maintenace I will replace any component thats showing signs of wear usually a control horn or servo arm.....Bill......