I received an Avistar from Fedex today and it's different than the one I have been flying. My original one (Avistar RTR select) has a metal rod in the wing and an alignment pin. This new one (it's the $99.00 one from Tower) doesn't have the pin or the rod. Did I miss something in ordering or have they upgraded the planes to include the rod and pin and this recent one I received is an older version? It seems without the rod that the wing could be suseptable to collapse.

The one you purchased, if it was only $99.00, must be the ARF version. And no, I don't think they come with the rod. The wings are made to be epoxied together permanently. I have two of them which were purchased about a year apart and niether of them, (the ARF versions), came with the metal rods.

T.

tsawyer148 is right. I had the ARF version and it doesn't have the metal rod. The instructions should show you how the wing halves should be expoxied togather.

Thanks for your replies. Yea, I epoxied the RTF set together also. I had heard they can come apart. It just seems that with the rod in there there is much more support in there to keep it from collapsing on a hard.

I had an Avistar, the ARF version, for a year or so and then sold it after buying my first low wing plane. If you used sufficient epoxy when assembling the wings you don't have to worry about the wings coming apart.
Tony

I am familiar with two Avistar wing joint designs - one with the metal rod and the other with a plywood joiner.. I would not fly without one or the other.. Epoxying the wing roots together without the rod or plywood joiner is asking for a catostrophic failure..

Check the wing root and see what type of carry through you need, then install it!

Cheers!

jim

Another suggestion the guys at the field gave me was to fibeglass the wing joint also. I used 1" fiberglass tape and applied a thin coat of epoxy. Just gives it that little bit of extra strength.

Thanks Jimmbbo and GJAUBIN, It does have the plywood joiner. I'll definately put that in. And come to think of it I do remember seeing someone at the field with an Avistar wing that had been fiberglassed across the joint area so I think I'll do that as well. I was thinking of adding a block to the leading edge area of the fuselage, to curve over the wing, and installing nylon screws to the trailing edge area. That way I won't have to use rubber bands.

If you are going to do a bolt-on wing hold-down, add a dowel to the leading edge of the wingthat plugs into a hole in your curved block. The block should be re-inforced with 1/8 ply at a minimum. Check out some bolt-on wing mounts at your field, to get a clearer picture.

Just follow the instructions and you'll be fine. Use 60-min epoxy to buy more time for alignment and set up

The rubber bands are there for a reason. New flyers will hit the ground alot with the wing this will let the wing give a little were as the bolts will not. Bolts are fine but if you hit the ground you must take the wing off and check the mounting blocks because they will crack. I would stay with the rubber bands till you are landing or taking off without hitting the wing. Don't ask me how I know this.

Hi rdhot, The avistar is a good plane, I have the ARF with the ply
joiner, If you give it a good coat of 30min epoxy and let set the
whole 24hrs. + you should have no problem with the wing.. I
also added some fiberglass 2"w to my wing halfs and never had
a problem and I did put it through it's paces. I also thought of
removing the use of rubber bands.. But I'm glad I did not do it,
The use of the rubber bands allow for some give to the wing in
case of those " I didn't mean to do that moments" Where as the
screwed on's will not, And yes the screws are suppost to break..
And they will, but most of the time it'll take something else along
with it... I'd say keep the rubber... Just put "enough" on. I used
up to 10 on each side, depending on what I was going to try..
after a day or two of flying I would put the used rubbers in a
baggie filled with corn starch and use a new set for my next
flight, then reuse the ones in the bag once my supply got low..
Throw out the stretched ones, and don't use them for more
than 4-5 flights.. Their pretty cheap, and work well..
Good luck and have fun!!

Thanks for all the help. This is actually a replacement for my first Avistar. The first one crashed too many times now to look good so I'm putting together a 2nd one. This gives me a plane to fly untill next spring when I move up to a 4*. Anyway, just looking into some ways to improve on the Avistar as it is. Thanks again

IMO, it's pretty tough to improve on the Avistar ...

Other posts have indicated that tubber band hold downs are a good thing, and the wing sounds like it will be strong enuf... Fiberglassing the root will add strength, and if it makes you feel better, have at it.... But if your last Avistar didn't suffer any wing strength "issues". likely this one won't either...

Enjoy!

Jim

The Hobbico Avistar Select outfit has the wing that does not need to be glued together. That wing uses a steel rod as the carry-through support and is not glued. The wing halves are held together with a strap and screws. The verical and horizontal tail surfaces also bolt to the fuselage. The "Select" series of Hobbico R/C airplanes come virtually ready to fly. Minimal assembly and then charge the batteries and go!

The Hobbico Avistar ARF requires that you glue the wing halves together and use a plywood dihedral brace as the carry-through support. You also have to glue on the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces. Of course, the model does not have the engine and R/C system already installed.

Both models are the same airplane, but the construction has been executed in slightly-different ways. The Select version does not require glueing of any kind, and assembly is very fast. The other version requires more work by the modeler.

In either case, just follow the instruction book and you'll be fine.