Scott,
 
Gonna take a few days to ruminate on this one.  At first glance, however you're giving up betweeen .4 & .9 kts / inch of CG travel with 3.6 inches (or 1.4 - 3.2 kts)   left to the aft limit. That totals upwards of 3.6 kts which would kick the snot out of my competition.  (using between .6 & 1.4 kts error in your 1 kt IAS improvement).
.
.
Larry

Scott & Larry,

I think that we have missed a very important point. What would have happened if the 53# weight had not been in the plane at all?

--
Lorn H. 'Feathers' Olsen, MAA, DynaComm, Corp.
248-478-4301, mailto:lorn@dynacomm.ws
LNC2, O-320-D1F, N31161, Y47, SE Michigan