Bill,

I think we're only talking about balancing on the pivot. I doubt anyone who's discussing balancing their stabs is thinking anything other than on the pivot. Those military planes you mentioned are a good example of what I'm talking about. Of course they're balanced, but it's not as simplistic as we think (as you have pointed out). They're usually aerodynamicly balanced for average flight loads. Whether it be a jet or a prop job, I'm still not aware of any production aircraft equipped with full-flying stabs that are balanced on the pivot...