i recently ordered a avistar to hopefully learn some aerobatics, for the first few flights i plan on using a .40 LA O.S. then i plan on putting my supertigre .51 and hopefully get some vertical with it, what kind of aerobatics could i do with that? and my next questian was what a good 2nd plane for aerobatics? i was hoping to get somthing that would maybe hover but also have slow landings and not to expensive. thanks for you help

Hello,
Good choice! I have an Avistar which was my second plane as well. It is a great flying aircraft. Mine is now on floats and still flies great. I would put the .51 on it right away, the 40 LA was underpowered in my opinion. I did pretty much anything considered basic aerobatics. The plane wasn't really designed for the 3D category. Recently I was flying and able to do 5-6 loops before I had to add any inputs to straighten out the plane, and thats with floats underneath. As I recall it snapped well and also did pretty nice spins and slow rolls. Go easy with the snaps and make sure you put a couple extra rubber bands on before you try one. You should really enjoy the plane.
As for a 3D plane. The skys the limit there. I have a fellow club member who is flying the Great Planes U-Can-Do .46 and has had great results with it. It lands like a tranier and still does anything he asks of it. My Ultra Stick 40 is also a good choice. Be sure to put plenty of power on it and it will treat you well. I'm sure you will have many more suggestions. Jeff

The Avistar is an excellent aerobat trainer, and I agree that you should go with the bigger engine immediately. I have an OS .40FP on mine and it is definitely underpowered for most aerobatics. A .46 BB engine would add a lot to the envelope, but I don't think it has the elevator authority for 3D. With a bigger engine than I have it will knife-edge all day, though. Saw one with a .46 and a tuned pipe so unlimited on the vertical.

so would the .51 not be overpowered

I had an OS .50 SX on my Avistar... man was that a fun plane!

Overpowered??? Naaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! No such thing for an aerobatic plane, IMO! The .50s are still in the .40/.46 class for size/weight, so you won't be adding too much weight with them.... if you went with a much bigger/heavier engine (.60+) then I'd say you may be going too far, but a .50 will be sweeeeeet on the Avistar.

awesome, i cant wait, what kind of aerobatics can you do with these things

I had a OS .40 LA and I could hold it back with my hand at full power...with my .46 AX, it feels like the rear stab is gonna rip off if held to long at WOT. I would definatly go for the big motor right away...at full power, I can takeoff within 2 1/2 lengths of the fuse and have unlimited vertical.

Hope ya have fun with it!

With the floats on, I am using a .70 four stroke. There is no such thing as overpowered IMO. There is such a thing as using to much power. When you get into 3D flying you will need to understand throttle management any way. That style of craft is designed with large control surfaces that will likely flutter if you are making full throttle high speed runs. As long as you can balance the plane without adding loads of weight then the engine is probably OK. Just make sure you are throttling back before you dive and it should be lots of fun. Jeff.

Hello,
Good choice! I have an Avistar which was my second plane as well. It is a great flying aircraft. Mine is now on floats and still flies great. I would put the .51 on it right away. It not that much of areo batic if u want hover and arero batics go wit the u can do 3d

The Avistar is a delight to fly with a good .46 (it even flies really well with a 46 LA). It is also an excellent platform for later hot-rodding. A great all-around plane that you will want to keep.

I also have an Avistar for my first plane and have had an OS 46FX on it since day one. This plane will do as much as you can throw at it with the right engine/prop combination. My Instructor had this thing doing all sorts of hair-raising stuff before he turns the buddy box on. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even bring any of his planes to the field if we're both there. He's very happy getting in aerobatic time with my plane. Just remember that it lands a little bit fast. Also, if you are going to keep it around for a long time, go ahead and replace the rubber bands with wing bolts and take out the dihedral. And don't forget to 'glass the center joint of the wing to give it extra strength. This has saved my wing numerous times from major damage on small "accidents". Have fun!

Don

i want to put a few flights on it with the .40 la before i DOUBLE the power. but i am having a real hard time getting the O.S. engine started, where should i set the carb to first start it, but i am also just using a chicken stick so that makes it a little harder but i can start my .51 right away with the stick. i learned to fly on a avistar with .40 and i succesfully soloed it but should i get an instructor for the first flight still? i plan to fly it with the throws low for the first time. everything is together and hooked up and ready to go, but now its supposed to rain for three days. thanks for the help

The LA has the air bleed carb that I am still learning how to tune myself, so I don't know what to tell you about setting the carb except read the manual. You may also have an air density problem if it is very humid in your area, I know that I have with my FX. See if one of your Clubmembers can help you out get it set right.

If you successfully soloed on the Avistar and are comfortable with flying it and landing it by yourself, I would say go for it. But it doesn't hurt to have an Instructor nearby to help either get you out of trouble or just as a confidence builder. Plus it's nice to have someone to talk to at the field if there is nobody else there. If you've never done aerobatics before, it's always a good idea to have someone around to talk you through the actions first.

Rain sucks, been there, done that with the first 2 months of the season here in NJ. If you have a flight sim, now's the time to get some practice in. I have just now started to get into the swing and have successfully solo'd myself after 2 years of instruction. I still like having my Instructor with me, both as a confidence builder and a friend. Plus, we can kibbitz over the others as they fly when we take a break.

Have fun!

Don

well i finally got it up today, but took it pretty easy other then the occasional loop or aileron roll. the .40 la seemed to do the job so far but i cant imagin it with a .51, but i plan on putting the in their pretty soon. this was my first REAL solo with out anyone with me (i have soloed but have had a buddy box thier just in case). cant wait to take it out in the morning and trying some more aerobatics. thanks for all your help.

skater,

Allow me to share my experience for your benefit. Not too long ago, I had been flying my trusty (albeit older) avistar with an instructer and had finally soloed on a Sunday afternoon. I had been doing much as you described, basically soloing with an instructor close by "just in case". Well, I happened to get cleared on a Sunday and I had Monday off work. So I packed up the truck and headed for what I thought was going to be a nice relaxing morning of flight. I had been pretty comfortable doing the basic loops, rolls, immelmand, split-S, cuban-8, stall turns, etc. I had also been trying to work on a slow/axial roll on the simulator. Well, I took off and was flying around for about 5 min and was feeling pretty comfortable and (over)confident so I thought I'd try that slow roll on the real thing. Well, somewhere in the 6th minute of that flight, my rudder thumb zigged when it should have zagged. The result was a completely demolished Avistar. I learned in a hurry that when you start out flying, your 2 biggest enemies are:

1. Overconfidence / impatience
2. LACK OF ALTITUDE!!!!!!

Lesson learned - no matter how comfortable you think you are, go slowly, think about what you want to try, think about how to recover when (not if - WHEN) you screw up, and do it at least twice as high as you think you need to be.

BTW, my new Avistar flies like a dream with a TT.46 I'm sure the engine will be a real powerhouse when it gets broken in.
Good luck!

You guys should get the book RC aerobatics for everyone. Go to www.rcstore.com to find it. There is a lot of good info in there about beginner through advanced aerobatics. The first thing to remember is that altitude is your friend when trying something for the first time. Don't be affraid to push the envelope but know your limits. If you don't push yourself and take the occasional calculated risk you will never get better. The second to remember is this. Plan to fly and fly your plan. Krossk, the only flaw in what happend to you is exactly as you described. You decided to fly a slow roll for the first time while you were in your flight. It is hard to overcome problems when you have all of 5 seconds of thought into the manuver. What I do before I try something new is land and go thru it in my head. Even move the sticks like you were flying it. Then fuel up and sit for a minute before you head up and try it. It sounds silly but it really does help you to concentrate on what you need to do. Then fly it over and over untill you get comfortable with it. If you can find the video Wring It Out from Dave Patrick it is also great for learning aerobatics. He takes you through what's neccesary and shows you how. Every manuver builds on the one before it. Its really good. Happy flying, Jeff

well i jsut did exactly what krossk did, i was doing all sorts of aerobatics and i was on the down wind turn and i was getting a little low so i thought i would just put a little rudder to level it out , WRONG WAY!!!! smashed into the ground full throttle but to my suprise when i walked over to see what i thought would be wood chips i found it in decent shape! snapped wing, elevator hinged ripped and the windshield area cracked, might sound like a lot but when you think about it going into the ground straight down full throttle it really turned good, 2 hours of work and its ready to go back up! except now its got the st g-51 in the front of it will this thing have vertical? thanks for all your help

At full throttle inputting rudder should not have made you snap so I'm guessing what you mean is that you used the wrong direction of rudder and kind of yawed it into the ground? If you have a computer radio try using some negative Exponential on your rudder. I have found I like only around -15 to -20% on most of my planes. Start low and work up to where its comfortable. Also remember when close to the ground use ailerons to keep your wings level and rudder for heading correction only. When I started flying a quater scale Cub it became almost manditory to learn rudder. It really makes all my planes easier to fly knowing how to land them using rudder for heading corrections. Cross winds are no longer a problem. I also will just fly touch and go's and practice landing setups when I have a cross wind so I can get better at them. Jeff

yes, i did put the wrong rudder input in,but luckily its ready to go back up.