yep, besides the mojo, this is a great plane to learn on.

.72 is a great engine.

i use 20/20, or 30% power master, or cool power. i like to use at least 20/20, the higher nitro really improves the idle and the power, also these mixes usually are all synthetic so they wont gum up the valve train like fuel with caster will.

props i like,13x6apc,mas s2, or 14x4 xoar, the master airscrew 'k' or 's2' props are great, they can take a lot of abuse.

for servos, on the 40 size slabs i like the hitec 475's, or the jr 821's,always an hitec 85mg for the throttle.

and i use 6v nimh, or 1100 a123's.

and for balance, i'd stick the engine as far back on the rails as possible, then adjust the battery to your liking. i usually check it by flying at half throttle and flip to inverted, if it climbs its too tail heavy, if it drops the nose its nose heavy.
i like em' to be neutral, or to just add a little down ele to keep it level when inverted.

as for glueing the wings on permenant, its a great idea if your not going to dork it a lot, but if you are really just starting to figure out 3d i'd leave them unglued. its a lot easier to remove one panel and do a repair job then it is when your wrestleing around with the whole plane.

get it going, fly the snot outa it, and in the mean time build a mojo 40, or even better get the mojo 60.