Sounds like you found yourself a real nice combo there. The Avistar is a nice flying Plane that should serve you well unless of course the worst happens before you get the hang of flying it. The O.S .46 LA you have chosen will also serve you well for quite some time. The LA series of engines are a bushing engine, and will wear faster than a bearing engine, but you should get several years of good service from it if you take care to break it in right, and be sure not to run to lean. The LA is a pretty simple/tough little motor that is a little lacking in power compared to some of the more expensive bearing engines its size, but they seem to hold up pretty well when the worst happens. I 've seen them picked 6" out of the ground with a screwdriver, taken home, cleaned up, and right back to flying the next fly day. Usually the Planes they are on don't fair as well. I really do hope that you decide that your Plane is just to nice to go out an destroy on the first flight, and that you decide to search long and hard for an instructor. I don't mean to sound like an *****, but the odds are highly stacked against you having a succesful first flight without any kind of training. I'm sure there are those who have done it this way, and were successful right from the very first flight, but this would be a very small minority of people. I Have had a few friends tell me how easy it looks, and have let them try there hand at flying my Plane on a buddy box. With no previous experience they were in a death spiral in the matter of seconds, and if I wouldn't have been on the master radio with my finger on the Trainer Switch, the Plane would have been splinters both times.

I really am not trying to discourage you. I just know that going out and picking up a crashed model on the first attempt would probally put an end to most peoples idea of getting into this hobby, and even though I don't know you, I really would like to see you succeed and to be able to enjoy the hobby for many years like most of us here at RCU do. If you absolutely can not find an instructor then you should at least spend the money for a Flight Sim like AeroFly, Great Planes G2 or G3, or buy you an interface cable that works for the Freeware Simulator FMS. Any of these will help you get the basic concept of R/C Flight. Also do some extensive research here on RCU or on the AMA website for much needed safety tips. Find out how other people have setup Planes just like yours. Learn what you can about maintaining your batteries, doing range checks, crosswinds, headwinds, tailwinds, throws, C.G, having a spotter, proper engine adjustment, general Plane Maintenence like cleaning, using afterrun oil, etc. etc. etc. Basically what I am saying is be sure to read and learn as much about your Plane, and setup as you can before you attempt to fly it. Good Luck