geish

You have received a lot of good info from all above but most of all from DBCherry concerning getting involved with a club and mentor (I hate the word instructor, its not very descriptive of what this person will actually be doing for you). Glad to hear you
are taking it to heart.

First off I would just like to say an inverted engine mount is the least desireable in the training environment due to flooding/fueling problems and the ideal position for that airplane is sideways not up right. In a cub the fuel tank positioning is also difficult with an upright position and the inability to get it high enough. This is why in most cub kits and arf's the engine is mounted sideways.

Lets talk a bit about your engine. If it is a K&B and marked .45 then it is a Sportster. Now discontinued they were fine engines that received somewhat of an undeserved reputation because of some unique features not used by others. Built during the production years in sizes of .20, .28, .45 and .65. They are a plain bering engine that is not ABC, instead they are AAC. A High nitrate alloy aluminum piston runing in a sleeveless aluminum
cylinder that is chrome plated. It is for this reason that your engine is not broken in yet. It takes awhile but that does not means you cannot start flying, just that it will not be at its best for a bit.

By the way all Sportsters make a delightful rattling sound at idle and is normal. The other major differance is the type of midrange mixture adjustment used and many are not aware there is a midrange adjustment (it is not a second needle type or an air bleed) so it would be helpful at your club if you asked around for someone with K&B experiance for a hand with the engine.

Don,t listen to any one who says that Sportsters are just sea anchors, they are good engines I use a .45 Sportster on a trainer For cross country flights that carrys 50 ozs of fuel and done just over two hours non stop covering eighty miles, They are good engines.


Welcome and best of luck

John