That particular plane wasn't mine, but other than the scheme was identical to three of the FW's I've had. The cowls were cheapo plastic and are long since gone. I flew my planes with cowls from Stan's fiberglass. Stan sold the company, but they still can be found at stansfibertech.com

Just tell them you need the cowl for the Great Planes FW-190. I know when Stan had the company the quality was very high, the cowls fit perfectly, and I never had a problem with any of the cowls I bought from them.

I flew my planes with several different engines, from KB to OS to Towerhobbies. The manual recommends engines .40 to .50 in 2-stroke and .48 to .70 in 4-stroke. I never used a 4-stroke on this particular plane, but I recall the Tower Hobbies .46 flew this plane with authority (my flying site was no more than 80-100 feet above sea level at the time).

As for the CG I went with what the manual recommended and never had a problem:

"Accurately mark the balance point on the top of the wing (next to the fuse) on both sides of the fuselage. The balance point is locate 3-3/8" [85mm] back from the leading edge next to the fuse. This is the balance point at which your model should balance for your first flights. Later, you may wish to experiment by shifting the balance up to 3/16" [5mm] forward or back to change the flying characteristics. Moving the balance point forward may improve the smoothness and arrow-like tracking, but it may then require more speed for takeoff and make it more difficult to slow down for landing. Moving the balance aft makes the model more agile with a lighter and snappier "feel" and often improves knife-edge capabilities. In any case, please start at the location we recommend and do not at any time balance your model outside the recommended range."

Good luck, hope this helps. Post a picture of your plane.

Tim