Bill,
I'd have to check the plane(I'm at work, so she ain't here
for CG. I think it's pretty close to the recommended location. Maybe a hair (like 1/8") back.
For servos, I have Futaba digitals for the elevator and rudder. 9155s I believe. I didn't feel like the plane needed digitals on the ailerons, so I have some larger Hitec servos in the wings (not sure what model number). You are correct; the elevator does not need to move much.
For a prop, I use an XOAR 16x10. If I ever fly at a lower altitude, I'll probably need to make that a bit smaller to keeps the amps the same. Like I said earlier though, 1250 watts is plenty here in Denver.
Lastly, there is plenty of room for my packs. I don't know the size of your 8s packs, but with 6s, I have a large amount of fore/aft space for balancing. I use a CC Phoenix ICE75 as an ESC. It handles up to 8s packs with BEC, so no Rx battery.
Tom