The rudder servo is probably less than 1/16" behind the wing tube (about 1' in front of stock location).
And all electrical equipment is in front of the wing tube (just did a very thorough ground test to make sure there was no interference since there was only a few inches between rx batteries and ignition components)

He doesn't fly 3D at all and since the engine is so overkill, it could probably still be a few lbs heavier and not fly any different as far as his pattern is concerned.

And if he did want it to 3D, it would probably be easier just to take off the tuned pipe that exits behind the back of the wing, add an in cowl muffler, and take out the nose weight. That would get about 3 pounds out of it. For him just flying pattern though he gets more benefit by keeping the longer tail moment and keeping it quiet.