After reading the responses above, I was kind of wondering if the CG was designed to be aft or are they were just referring to the aft CG as a result of tail fuel management.
Also, another question; did they build it with an aft CG, with the plan of having LSAS compensate for the handling characteristics.
While looking for the answer I came across the following except from airlinesafety.com
The MD-11 was designed with a smaller horizontal stabilizer than other airliners. That, plus the shifting of its center of gravity further aft, all to reduce drag and thus fuel burn, causes it to be unusually light on the controls. That design, known as “relaxed stability,” is common to fighter planes but is not normally found in the pitch axis of a civilian airliner. It makes it more likely that the pilot will overcontrol and exacerbate the situation, during a recovery attempt after a high altitude upset or during a bounced/hard landing.
So for those that have flown lots of civilian airliners is the above sentence correct. I have no clue since the MD-11 is the only large civilian airplane I've flown.
Just thought I would ask some questions related to the airplane I fly, along with trying to get off the FedEx TA wheel of drama for a while.