I've built a few planes and assembled a few ARFs, but I've never been sure if I'm balancing a plane properly. I seem to get it right because I've never had a problem in flight. But sometimes I think it's becuase I'm just lucky. As I get further into this hobby, I'm building more expensive planes, so I'm worrying more now than before. Here's the question:

When I set the plane on the balancing machine - I use several different kinds based on the size of the model but the same principle applies - how do I know when the plane is in its straight & level attitude?

I've always set the model so that the horizontal stabilizer is horizontal to the ground but sometimes the angle of attack of the fuselage doesn't look right.

Am I doing this correctly? Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks