Cool. I was just looking around online.

Do I need to secure the fuel tank into the fuse somehow? Instructions don't say anything about it. Perhaps a later step will involve installing something that acts as a stopper.

pack a little foam padding around it to help keep the vibrations down. You should also wrap your battery and RX with the stuff.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXE100&P=7
One layer is enough to protect the batt & RX.

If you are going to use a manual fuel pump to fill the A/C, count how many turns you have to make while filling your tank, then fly. When you land, refuel and count how many turns it takes to have the fuel come out of the exhaust tube. This will give you an idea of how much you're burning and you can also get a rough estimate of how long you can stay up, with throttle management of course.

I had to replace the stock tank in my Avistar after I nosed it in too hard. It split the forward seam and it leaked through to the forward compartment. You might want to think about making a hatch to get at the fuel tank in case you need to do any adjustments or replacement. I put in a Sullivan seamless 8 oz in mine and I get about 15 minutes of flight time at 1/2 throttle and no aerobatics. It leaves about 3 "turns" in the tank at landing. I have a .46 FX in mine, the predecessor of the .46 AX.

I forgot one other thing, I put a piece of balsa across the back of the tank area to help keep the tank in place, along with soem foam rubber. This not only helps keep it in place, but keeps the vibrations down, which can foam the fuel and lead to a lean or deadstick condition, both not being good for the A/C!

1.you shouldn't need to see the fuel just use the vent pressure line ( the one that attaches to the muffler) as a overflow let the excess go into a jar and pour fuel back into your can or jug.
2.use the nylon ones first, wood ones don't last long on a trainer, using a pencil will not get you a accurate balanced prop most of the guys I know dont even bother with 40 size props one prop strike and its out of wack anyway.if you want to balance your props get a "real" prop balancer if you are going to do it do it right.
3. I am surprised your mount did not come with rubber mount bushings that slide over the ears on your engine most of the Hobbico planes come with them now. they call them iso-smooth mounts check your bag of hardware, if not call hobby services and get one there 2.50 mounting the engine to aluminum with straps looks a little sketchy. I read your instructions and they were not too clear on the hinges or the engine mount didn't even have the mount correctly listed easy to understand the confusion. not to pile on but no less than 3 hinges for rudder and 6 for the elevator.

Um... Pete, you ARE going to fly this with the help of an instructor, right?

If not, you won't need to worry about running out of fuel

Good advice guys, thanks a lot.

Funny. Yes, I will be flying with an instructor.

Engine is in. Didn't try the new hinges because I didn't get to the hobby shop until late.

that 46 is going to drag that plane around the sky your gonna like it for a few different planes,surprised to see there are no rubber engine mounts, that system keeps the vibration through the airframe down.I have mine in a sport plane,where is your fuel fill line?here's a shot close up with a 3 line system .
1.fuel supply
2.muffler pressure line
3.fill line with improv hex head cap screw for a plug.
its a little blury but you can see what I am talking about I also used the same mount that comes with the NEXTAR it was cheap and works well for the engine.
one thing I noticed about my 46AX loads of power but it came out of the box with a #3 plug, it is the hot one, after a few flights it burnt out and I switched it for a #8 seems to run a bit smoother with the cooler plug the 8s are a little more expensive also.

There are two tubes running from the tank. 1 goes to the carb. on the engine. The other goes to the muffler. Before you fill up the tank, remove the tube from the muffler. When you fill the tank, the excess fuel will exit through the muffler tube.

Enjoy the Avistar, I flew one for 30 flights this summer until I dumb thumbed it in. Flies great at low speeds. I'm repairing the wing, and building a new fuselage for it. At least your version appears to be covered with monokote, my version had the sticky vinyl covering, only problem with the earlier plane.

I don't have one. The tank only has two ports, like Jim said.

That's a good tip. I bought 8 of the new OS A3 plugs to go into it. Maybe I'll just put them in to start with.

Tonight is putting in two new hinges on the elevator. There's plenty of room for them. After that, it's down to putting in the radio equipment, and I'm ready for my appointment with my trainer on Sunday.

I also bought some foam rubber and a prop balancer. The props I got are WAY out of balance.

I need to stuff some foam rubber in behind the fuel tank to hold it in there. It's not loose, but it's loose enough where the vibration will most likely pull it out, which would be bad.

The hobby shop also didn't have kind of rubber engine mounts. I was thinking of putting in some foam rubber strips or something like that in between the metal mounting plates.

Engine looks right.

BTW - don't care much for the table cloth. j/k

Hahaha! I won't tell my wife. Yesterday she says to me "we need an autumn-type tablecloth" and that's what she puts on.

She lets me leave my plane parts all over the place without a word, I'll let her put a hot pink and purple tablecloth on if she wants.

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The hobby shop also didn't have kind of rubber engine mounts. I was thinking of putting in some foam rubber strips or something like that in between the metal mounting plates.
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Don't be monkeying around with the mounts. You may end up with a loose engine.

Since this is a trainer I wouldn't really worry about balancing the props. They are going to start getting banged up pretty much from the start. Especially when you start practicing landings, they'll take a beating. Just put them on the plane and fly it.

You don't need to put any rubber on the engine mount. If you do the engine will actually slip out of the mount. Just make sure the mount is tight on the engine mounting tabs and you'll be good to go.

Hope this helps

Ken

Everything helps!

I'll leave the engine as it is.

As for props, I bought 6 wood and 6 nylon props with the plane. That way I can practice with the wooden ones when I'm more likely to break one, and switch to the nylons when I'm comfortable.

You want to do the exact opposite. Use the wooden props AFTER you have learned to fly. Wooden props will shatter if you even THINK about touching them to the runway. You will want to use the nylon props for training because they can handle touching the runway during rough landings and not shatter.

Hope this helps

Ken

Everyone's been saying use the wood props first so if you hit the grass or whatever, the prop will break instead of stressing the engine or something else. []

IMHO that's nothing but a myth. A nylon prop touching the ground isn't going to put any stress on the engine. I've been flying for 10 years now and I've had plenty of prop strikes with nylon props and have never had any damage to the engine what so ever. If you want to use wood props for training them you'd better pick up about 30 or so of them.

Ken

I'll take your word for it. You guys have been pretty much spot on with everything else. Nylon it is.

I have to paint some tips on the edges because they're all black. Was thinking yellow or red.

Pete1burn... The way I install all my tanks... I use silicon sealent at the frt. of the
tank just around the hole in the firewall.. I foam where the tk. sits, and I either
use foam to tighten any small movement at the back of the tank. The silicon holds
the tank well, seals the whole, yet still pretty easy to remove... I'm still on the tk.
that came with the model... On tanks/fuse's thats hard to see the bottom of the
fuse/tank area, I drill a small hole/s in the bottom of the fuse in the tk. area just
before the rear bulkhead just so as to tell in case the tank is leaking... Have not
needed it yet... Bit I have seen a few models that would have benifitted from it.

We won't let RCKen mislead you. You can assume he is spot on with every post.

Wood props can be a misery. I would recommend APC Nylon. I also lightly sand the sharp edges, leading and trailing edge, and balance all of mine. If you need to adjust them scrap the front with an X-Acto blade held perpendicular to the surface (like a cabinet scraper). It usually only takes a teeny amount. The problem with paint is that it always flakes off, and usually does so unevenly. Or, as RCKen said, don't worry about it. APC has very good Q.C.

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If you need to adjust them scrap the front with an X-Acto blade held perpendicular to the surface (like a cabinet scraper). It usually only takes a teeny amount. The problem with paint is that it always flakes off, and usually does so unevenly.
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Hmmm? Would "scrap" or "scrape" be a better method here?

I hav that PC virus that liminats th lttr " " from your typing.

Yes, "scrape" is what I ment. I can still think faster than my two good fingers can type.