Here is the story. I was a frequent competitor in NAR meets in the 60's and 70's, flew everything, got fairly good at scale and was on one I-nats team (scale alt, beat by clouds).
I had terrible problems with BG reliability, although a swingwing RG I cooked up usually worked, different than the famous Groundhog, better opening system. So now that I have time and money, have gone back to attack BG with new ideas.
Note the radio control gear is MUCH improved since back then, and very cheap if you know where to look.
The venerable "piece X" pop pod I believe is troublesome and finicky. So I designed some replacements, some work well, but are more complex and heavy. Finally I just
went back to the "blow pod" from the early days. They just ejected the motor from a front eng BG to shift the CG for glide. Today you can't do that by NAR rules, so I use a
BT20 engine tube with rings inside BT50, there is room for a streamer.
Here is a trick not well known in the USA, the euro's are hip to it. I saw it used on a winning RG at NARAM-13. You tilt the top mounted pod about 3 degree, so it points DOWN. Watch you don't burn the stab or tail off, some coating is sometimes good on the top of stab. What this does is counteract the "down moment arm" of the pod being offset from the center of the model. I use a 1" tall pylon and 2.5 deg.
I just flew a great flight last weekend with this. The small CG shift of blowing the motor module is enough to cause transition to glide. Can't get much simpler than this.
Just make sure your CG is in the right place. Hand toss does not determine it exactly, you need a flight. Watch for optimal glide and no stalling.
Note if you try just the canted pod without blowing the motor, as in RG, the angle is more critical. Even 0.1 degree off will cause looping. But this tilt + blow technique
seems to work well. Try it! Front eng. BG of your choice, or design your own. 0-0 incidence, mount stab a little lower than wing, it will work.