I had a radio "mishap" and put in my Hangar 9 Aresti that had an OS .46FX in it. The Motor survived the mishap fine, but now I am torn, I loved the way the Aresti flew with the .46 on it, but I am looking around and just checking as to what's out there for that powerplant. I like the solid way the Aresti flew, wind hardly affected it and it went the way you pointed it like it was on rails. I am also interested in a good 3D style machine if one could be had with a .40 sized engine.

Some of the smaller profiles would fly good 3D with the 46. Another choice would be the Great Planes Dazzler. A Sig Mayhem 40 would fly pretty well also.

That should give you some starting points.

Thanks
Barry

I know its a high wing but the Phoenix Decathlon looks great, is a good size, is reasonable price, is aerobatic and with a 46FX on the nose would have high performance. Mine has a ASP 52 and it doesn't need that much engine(its fun though!!).

You really have a ton of options in the .46 size range. The Hangar 9 Twist is a great fun fly and the OMP Fusion might be a good choice too since it is sort of a precision/3D hybrid.

Phoenix must be really loose in their production. My Decathlon weighed 6lb 8ounces when clean and new. And with a 46AX in it that had been pulling the firewall out of an Ultra Stick. If flew ok, but was anything but a 3D airplane.

In the last year and a half, I've done 17 ARFs for myself and others, and my Phoenix Decathlon is roughly ONE POUND heavier than most of the others and 1.5lbs heavier than the lighter ones. When the 55AXs came out, I retrofitted one of them to see if it'd improve the vertical on the Phoenix. It did improve it, but it's still a very heavy model and really has no "vertical" to speak of.

My advice is to go into Tower's website and click on the 40-size ARF category. Click on for any that look good to you and see what Tower says about the weight. Then look at the ailerons. If they're strip ailerons, it's probably not going to be very good at 3D. If Tower doesn't have anything, give Chief a shot. Their website index makes shopping for an airplane almost as easy as Tower's layout. If you don't see anything there, try Horizon Hobbies website, but be prepared to a very user unfriendly maze. They don't make anything easy to find. But they do carry a line or two that others don't.

I'd second what Cazier said about the profiles.

World Models

http://www.airborne-models.com/Index.asp

Your right, the Decathlon is a heavy beast for the size(not sure why) and I must admit I never bothered trying to hover it. I was very surprized at how fast it is and just enjoy the high speed runs and quick response times. It can catch up to and pass almost every plane at our field except the Seagull twin!! I have read some good things about the Rascal lately and it might be another "high wing" option. As someone mentioned, there are lots of good choices in this size range.