After flying the SE for nearly THREE years and having built over 10 of them for personal consumption and for some fellow club members we find that the SE is quite capable of doing knife edge flight with a few modifications. (Even knife edge loops and figure eight's)

One of mine is powered by a Paul M. Raptor .46 that has been retimed for use with a full length expansion chamber. It turns a 11X5 APC prop on 25% omega and will hover at a bit more than 1/2 throttle.

It has the rudder extended by 5/8 inch and a large counterbalance. The elevator is extended 1 3/4 inches with large counterbalances on the ends that add a total of 6 inches to the elevator's length.

The elevator servo is mounted on the right side just in front of the stab and uses short and direct pull - pull linkages. (nearly 90 degree deflection)

This one likes to knife edge loop better with right rudder (a possible by-product of engine thrust) but it will also knife edge loop with left rudder so knife edge figure eight's are possible.

My other flyable SE is powered by a Clarence Lee (PDP) .61 ringed K&B. Again with a full length pipe. This old dog spins an APC 13X5 prop (had to fabricate longer landing gear)

This one has Ailevators, each half driven by Hitec HS-605 servos. Nearly 90 degrees deflection. Stab and elevator are as above setup. This one has 1 inch longer rudder with a 2 inch counterbalance (I think the counterbalance is the key to knife edge flight with the SE)

I use 4 (FOUR) of the little Hitec HS-55 servos in the wing in a setup similar to the Ultra Stick (crow) I cut the ailerons exactly in half. Initially thought these servos would be too weak but they will deflect the surfaces nearly 90 degrees at full speed ahead.

The SE WILL KNIFE EDGE and do KNIFE EDGE LOOPS when modified and with crow and Ailevators it will do things that need to be seen to be believed!!

My favorite maneuver is an inverted flat spin. Hold full throttle, full down elevator and full right aileron and the SE will stay in one place and neither lose or gain altitude. It just hangs there in one place in the sky flat spinning while inverted.

As far as CG goes I have mine back to the point where it is starting to get squirrley, probably 2 inchs aft of the suggested location.

http://www.ultranet.com/~llfc/se_tips.html

This link leads to an excellent collection of building tips for the SE.