I started this thread and then went out and bought the ARF plus Tower's .75 motor, from Tower (usual three day great service and low shipping cost). I have 5 flights to date, all this morning. I have nothing but praise for the plane. A few comments:
Install the motor and everything else as far forward as possible to keep from having to add nose weight. I did that and still had to use a brass prop nut to get the CG inside the max aft recommended value. Turns out, after flying, the CG is too conservative. I intend to move it back some more, probably by removing the brass prop nut.
Control throws are way too conservative, even for normal sport flying. These are small surfaces. Especially the elevator.
I did the tail dragger conversion and the model tracks very nice on takeoff and landing. Looks cool, also.
Had problems getting the mid range and low speed working well on the motor until I changed the glow plug to an OS #8. All problems went away. When starting this motor for the first few times, use a hot air gun to expand the cylinder as recommended in the manual. It works great. After a couple of tanks the motor loosens up just fine. I am getting 12,500 on an APC 12-6 prop. Measured thrust is 9 pounds on 10% synthetic.
One great looking and flying plane. I think I made a two click trim change to the elevator on the first flight.

Way to go CG products!