Is this tank prone to leaking? I have a new dubro 8oz. tank I can put it. Would that be better. I just worry after calling for a second time for parts that were not right or missing from my ARF. 3 Linkage rods, 2 rod tubes and 1 ca hinge lol. At least the tech support is very nice, but I was suprised to come home yesterday and find a big box in the mail filled with an airbag and one 2-56 rod. Oh well at least there will be two this time. But I have read where some tanks that come with arf's tend to leak after a short while.

Recommend you make sure that the stopper is tight. Mine came loose and leaked. Fortunately, no harm done.

Thats what I am worried about. I have read in some reviews like the FuntanaS that even RCU swapped out the stock tank because of the stoppers in them.

I forget which size, but there is a Sullivan round tank that is a perfect drop in replacement for the stock tank. In my opinion, saving $8 is not worth the worry.

I think you'll like the Avistar, I picked up a used one and it flies pretty well and is relatively aerobatic with the semi-sym wing. Will fly inverted easily. One mod I recommend is to swap the single aileron servo for two and use flaperons if your radio will support it. It makes a noticeable difference on approach speed.

Duke

Does anyone else besides me put silicone sealant around the stopper and brass fuel tubes?

I have never used silicone for a fuel tank seal but I had bad a bad stopper in a H9 Cherokee Arf . It was too soft to tighten up properly. The fuel tank was a different shape to fit the plane so couldn't be replaced easily but I just bought a replacement stopper and tubing kit for the same size fuel tank which worked fine. [8D]

I don't use a sealant, but I do like to cut a hole in the firewall and mout the tank forward so the stopper pokes out the firewall. Its not pretty, but allows easy visual inspection while filling and makes for very short tubing runs.

Duke

I had an Avistar and had the problem you are referring to. However, it was not the tank, but the stopper. I have to store my planes in the garage, and during the Winter months on the first season, the stopper shrank just enough for it to leak. I took the tank out of the plane, tightened it up and never had another problem. While I had the tank out, I also cut in a hatch underneath where the tank sits. It did give me a way to open it up and try to diagnose the problem if it came back, but never really needed it.

Thats all I'm worried about. I think I might just use the stopper from my other tank, besides I think it looks better than the shiny lid thats on the stocker anyway. Or try to cram a 10 or 12oz. in there one of the two. I need to get my control surfaces installed first to make sure of clearance. I am waiting on Hobbico to send me the rods and tubes that got left out of my ARF.

Just make sure you don't put pressure on your throttle when adding a bigger tank. I never found the need to have more fuel, it flew a comfortable 15 minutes per tank on 8oz. Anyway, hope your problem gets solved by a different stopper, after mine was tightened, I never had another leak.

I just had tank out of my Avistar, and disassembled. Replaced stock clunk/fuel tubing with sintered bronze and nice tubing. Seems like pretty good quality tank, the stopper screw is a machine screw and goes into a metal backing plate, tank seems nice and thick and the stopper seems of good quality too. Of course, having said this, it will start leaking the next time I fly, but at least the tank compartment is fuel proofed....

Andy

I ended up making a hybrid tank. I used the brass tubes and clunk end and the stopper from the dubro and used the tubing from the stock tank. It was a lot more flexible than the dubro, but the pickup end was larger and heavy from the dubro. I think this will be a better combination. The only trouble now is getting all the electronics and switch to fit. Its packed in tight, but I need to take out my switch and do some carving on the fuselage. I have a ton of foam in there. I just hope I can get all my con rods working smoothly. It should be done in another evening. Hopefully about three more weeks we will have some good weather and I can get hooked up with an instructor to get a refresher course since its been a LOOOONNNNNGGGG time since I have been in the air. I have been wearing Real Flight out the last month.