Eric, it's almost impossible to help you without seeing the plane--and you--in action. Prolly no easy answers, but I'll be happy to give my two cents of opinion, maybe all it's worth. I DO NOT suspect the CG since I've had it way back and way forward--with no discernible problem hovering--with a Super Tigre .45, an OS .50SX, a .61FX, and a Saito 82a.

I've been looking at that PNP--just for the color change, but I'd like to try the Evolution .46, too. It SHOULD have enough power, since my ST .45 would pull the Twist out of a hover. If if DOES have the power, it makes no sense for it to "fall off at the nose," as you describe. Remember, in a hover the plane isn't "flying." It's hanging on the prop and everything SOUTH of the prop is just... there, a dead weight the prop keeps aloft (with directional help from the control surfaces--driven by the prop wash). So I first suspect the prop. If you're not using something like the APC 12.25x3.75, that may be the problem. The "benchmark prop: 11x6 @ 12,500rpm" ain't a 3D prop in my estimation.

I haven't flown a foamie, but I've seen one fly, hovering and harriering forever, but that has to do with the lightness, prop, and pilot. I can't imagine hovering the Twist is ANYTHING as easy as hovering a foamie. It took me months to hover my first Twist--and oh, boy, did I have excuses, starting with CG.

Since you say, in a harrier, the bird falls off to either wing, I suspect it's NOT lateral balance, but you might check that to be sure. I don't particularly care for the harrier landings, which have bad effects on rudder, tail wheel, and forward landing gear--when it "plops" down--and I don't see anyone else even trying them. But I HAVE held the Twist at high alpha, especially in a wind, sometimes going backwards. It's a graceful-looking, anti-"flight" sort of maneuver. And one heck of a challenge. You WANT to use the ailerons, but the trick's all in the LEFT hand, rudder and throttle.

Eric, give yourself some time with the PNP. I won't be so crass as to tell you to look in the mirror for your problem, but that worked for me. Practice, practice, practice--and remember this hovering thing is NOT as easy as with a foamie.

If, on the other hand, you're in a hurry, buy a U Can Do .46. I bought one AFTER I had several Twists--and could hover, but the Can Do did just about everything easily: hover, harrier, inverted flat spins, knife edges--the first time I flew it. It's the most boring plane I've ever flown. I sold the .46, and my Can Do .60 is on the block for sale, also boring.

Good luck in any event. Maybe Ghee-grose or DownT--who both have experience with foamies--can chime in.

J