RE: Mounting a 26cc Ryobi upside down?
At home, I use a 1079r Ryobi actually as a weedwacker. I've had it upside down and whichever way, and it ran just fine.
FWIW, I bought it to replace my old 875r, which has the cheaper version of the 26cc engine. The genIII engine on the 1079r is markedly more powerful.