Hi Bryan,
I'll take the 2nd part of your opening question first.
Mark is not the first person on here to raise the subject of CG in the vertical (the height dimension).
I did and do encourage Mark to do some testing of this.
By doing so he might even end up with a vertical CG position similar to your glow alferma
- seriously though he may get a benefit or learn that he won't.
The answer to the first half of your opening question requires a history resume and a longish post - later
Brian