RE: knife edge flight
I find much depends on the design. Fuse area ahead and behind the CG as well as area distribution above and below wing centerline play roles in KE performance (roll and pitch coupling).
In general, more aft CG gives more tail control response (both rudder AND elevator). Also, it's common to change elevator trim as you change CG. The elevator / CG trim relationship is important to KE for this reason:
You'll find as you move the CG back, you need less "UP" elevator to maintain level flight (and conversely less down control needed to maintain inverted level flight). With this in mind, if you roll the plane to KE attitude, as the CG moves aft, your elevator downward trim tendency will mean the plane will probably "tuck" more to the gear side (wich is good if the plane formerly pulled to the canopy).
Make sense?