ARF Guy

Yeah, a thrust line is a thrust line regardless of the power source. You'll note right and down thrust are already built into the firewall alignment. That is good! Just mount your motor square to the firewall and centered as they have marked.

Since you are new, balance is very important and they tell you where the CG should be. Balance low wing planes inverted and with the battery you plan to use. A nose heavy plane is flyable but a tail-heavy plane is a crash waiting to happen, especially with a short-time pilot.

This is a great airframe. Properly balanced it is a forgiving sport flyer with no tendency to tip stall. It goes where you point it and can even handle wind. Mine is about 5 years old with at least 450 flights, 1 dead stick (just keep your nose down and maintain flying speed) and no crashes. Flown scale, I get standing "O's" when I fly mine, One of the very best and enjoyable planes I've had in over 35 years of RC flying.