Rock.. this all assumes a person knows what all the terms mean and can directly apply those to the forumuas. It seems easy enough, but to many beginners, it is way overwhelming.

The manuals usually give a pretty solid method of determining the CG range and it comes in close enough for most modelers, both for ARF's and kits. Just make sure that you read the instuctions and that they are clear to you. For instance, "from the leading edge 3 inches from the fuselage" may be one instruction, and on another, it may say "2 inches from the leading edge at the tip of the wing". Follow what the manual says and it will be close enough for the maiden flight.

After that, you can slightly adjust it rearward or forward according to your flight style, but be very careful with setting the CG to far back. Remember the addage "nose heavy planes fly badly but tail heavy planes fly once".

And, for planes with the engine up front, adjust the CG with an empty fuel tank. For rear mounted engines (pushers), do it with a full tank.

CGr.