I've had 3 avistars and still have my last one. I learned on the avistar and it will always be my choice of plane. One thing I found is that the tail fin doesnt mate well to the stabilizer. Here is what I decided to do: use balsa to add thin strips on either side of the tab for the tail fin so that it doubles the mating surface. I used "gorilla glue" for this and it was very solid. Then, I cut just enough away from the top of the fuselage so that I could then get this whole thing in glue it solidly to the horizontal tail surface, inside the fuselage. then I just glued some scrap balsa to fill the holes on either side of the vertical fin and cover with white mono kote. I realize this seems alot for a first ARF but think of it this way, you are learning a new technique and it makes the tail so much stronger. It's a GREAT plane to fly and the approach on landing is magic.