I just got a Hobbico Avistar 40 Select RTF that comes with the OS .40LA engine. It assembled easily and everything went according to the instructions, but I am a little confused about the cg. The assembly instruction manual says it should balance between 2-1/2" & 3-1/2" back from the leading edge, but the other manual that comes with it titled "When you go to the field..." says it should be at 3-5/8". Since the second manual seemed to be more generic and not specific to this airplane, I went with it where it was without any modification at about 2-3/4" figuring this was a little forward of the center of the range indicated in the assembly instructions for this plane and that a little nose-heavy would be a good place to start.

Once I flew it though, it became very apparent that it was way too nose-heavy. It did not want to lift off and once it did, I had to give it full up elevator trim and still hold the stick back the whole time to keep it up. I kept adding tail weight in 1/2 oz. increments and it kept getting better, but even after adding an ounce it was still nose-heavy. I have since balanced it to 3-5/8" which is just about 1/8" behind the main spar, but to get it there I had to have a total of 1-1/2 oz. of lead on the tail and move the battery from in front of the receiver to behind it, just in front of the servos. I have not flown it yet in this configuration.

I was wondering if anybody else had experienced this with this airplane.