Done! I found those set screws or whatever for the servos and put the nose wheel and throttle on them. Then I just had to glue in the pushrod tube guide, and pin up the antenna (which I haven't done yet.)

Thanks to everyone who gave me help and advice through all of this, especially Bruce and Ken. You guys went above and beyond to help me out and I appreciate it.

Full report on Sunday when I get back from the field.

can tell ya by looking at your set up to move the elevator push rod out a few holes at least one from the end, then on the center hole in the elevator to start with, another tip when breaking servo arms off if you score them with a exacto knife they will snap clean off and will not leave extra plastic or take too much, to much can leave you with a weak arm and possible area for breakage leading to, lawn dart syndrome.
BTW when I mentioned the rubber engine mounts I did not mean add some rubber from a hardware store or anything like that, they are specifically for mounting RC engines and are offered on Hobbico planes like the NEXTAR the mount that you had looks like the one offered on that plane thats why I mentioned it.
good luck on your test/maiden flights

Not sure if you have flown before, But if it's a typical Avistar, the tailend hangs
down a bit... By bending your "mains" up or using a smaller wheel in frt. so that
the wing is at least level to the ground, it can help on no bounce landings...
You have to feel safer with you changing out your hinges... Good luck on your flight!!

Everything went beautifully. The first flight my instructor took it up and trimmed it out. I was amazed at how fast this thing moves. I was expecting it to be much quicker than my last plane, but this thing was like a bullet. Everyone was yelling asking if I had a rocket powering it.

After it was trimmed he transferred control to me. I flew some simple ovals, just getting a feel for the plane. It is also much more responsive. Small inputs on the sticks give a lot of response. I did a quick barrel roll for the heck of it (first time) and a couple of lazy loops and just had a bit of fun with the plane, but still taking it very easy. It was also still running very rich to keep breaking in the engine. Instructor landed it. People clapped, and said I was a natural. hehe

On the second flight, he took off again and we started doing some more aerobatics like immelmans, inverted flight and snap rolls. The plane never hiccuped once. It was a pleasure to fly, very stable yet willing to go where you wanted it to.

On the third flight he hooked up a buddy box and told me to take off. This was kind of tough. I mean, your natural tendency to move an off-center plane is to use the aileron sticks because that's how you turn it in the air. I had to get used to using the left stick, which is something I never had on my first trainer. But I got it off the ground with minimal trouble. I flew around a bit with my instructor giving me advice on using the rudder and when it was applicable. (Up until this point, I hadn't touched the rudder.) He then had me try a few landing approaches.

The first approach was a little too fast, so he said the next time to cut power a bit earlier. (Still getting used to the power of this plane.) The second time I cut it about halfway from the approach turn, and that went a lot better. Third time, I brought it all the way in, and landed perfectly, but the plane hit a bump in the runway and spun around. It was slow enough that there was no damage.

I was done for the day after that. When I took off my wings, there was a puddle of fuel in the fuselage. I had to dry it all out with paper towels, but a lot of the guys told me that fuel in balsawood ruins it, and I'd most likely need a new kit. Anyone know how true that is?

All in all, the plane was great. It flies beautifully at half throttle, and at full throttle, boy look out. I checked all of the hinges and they all seem to be fine.

I was considering getting a new ARF kit anyway and using all of the lessons from this one to build a new one using nylon hinges, etc.

I have some video, but it's pretty far away and grainy. The club has a rule that when a new pilot with a new plane is on his/her maiden flight that no one else can be near the runway and no one else can be flying. So the camera man couldn't get close enough to get good shots.

Thanks again to everyone.

Fuel isn't good for balsa but as long as you didn't let it soak in you should be OK. The big thing is you need to find out where it came from and fix it. First guess would be that you may not have gotten the stopper in the tank tight enough. Second guess is that it may have been too tight [:@] and split the tank. either way the leak source needs to be found and fixed. If possible you can try to coat the tank area (the soaked area) with a layer of epoxy to seal it from the fuel in the future. Be sure it is clean/dry first.

BTW - didn't I tell you it would be a lot faster than your previous planes? Glad it all went well.

Yes you did tell me it would be faster!

Problem is, I think the fuel did have a good chance to soak in. After all, if it was puddled with fuel, it must have been there since the first flight, so probably a good 5 hours or so. I pulled everything out and I tightened the stopper screw until the rubber was compressed. Then I put the while thing under water and blew air into it, and there were no bubbles, so I'm pretty sure that was the problem.

I left the wing off and in open air to let as much fuel as possible evaporate, but it did soak in pretty good. There's also the oil left behind that's covering EVERYTHING like the servos and tubes and all. Just worried.

Also, is there anything wrong with making a long flexible tube to attach to the muffler that runs down the fuse to the tail to let that oil drain out the back? The right wing, the whole fuse and tail were absolutely covered in oil. I thought if the tube had enough diameter, it wouldn't affect the engine performance, but I could be wrong. It was an absolute MESS!

A few applications of this stuff
http://www.k2rbrands.com/products/original.htm
will lift the oil out of the wood. Spray it on, let it work and then brush it off. The oil on the servos won't hurt, they're pretty well sealed.
As for the outside, this is why the electric guys call these "slimers".

A long tube, unless it is a tuned expansion chamber, would add too much back pressure on the engine. Just bring spray cleaner and paper towels, IMO.

Next plane, check the tank before installing. [:@] I should have told you that before but so should the instructions.

I'll look into that stuff.

The hand crank fuel pump I got from Tower was defective. One of the guys there had to snap off his clunk to fill up my plane for me. I gotta get something else before next week.

I asked for the complete field box combo from Tower http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXL419&P=ML for my bday next month, so we'll see.

Call Tower NOW and tell them your sad tale (joking) and tell them you need a replacement pump in your hands by Friday. They are usually very cooperative.
BTW - You should have tested it before you went to the field or are you starting to get that idea?

Use your heat gun to heat the wood between applications of the K2R. This will force the oil out of the wood. Then apply the K2R to soak that oil up. Keep doing this until you start seeing little or no oil being forced out of the wood when you heat it. The get the wood as dry as you can and seal the wood with epoxy.

Ken

I didn't mention the heat gun because I knew he didn't have one yet.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXJD39&P=ML or equivelent
For the next Tower order or LHS trip.


Yes, it is possible to apply too much heat so be careful.

Oh, didn't realize he doesn't have a heat gun. Although you can't use it to cover with a hair dryer will work for this application. It will heat up the wood enough to get the oil out.

Ken

In starting the engine, we broke the plastic spinner plate that goes in back of the prop. I'd like to get an aluminum spinner and a new backplate. Can you guys offer some replacements?

I've used both Tru-Turn and Great Planes aluminum spinners, and have had great luck with both brands. I like the Great Planes because they do have aluminum spinners in smaller sizes that are a little more "affordable" than the Tru-Turn spinners.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you break the spinner backplate??

Ken

I honestly don't know. We fueled up the plane, primed the engine, put on the glow starter and turned the prop with a chicken stick and it snapped almost in half. I had the prop resting where the instructions said to put it. I'm not sure why it broke. Maybe because it was a brand new engine, and they're hard to turn over?

Can you link me to the right size spinner and a backplate? Or do the spinners come with backplates?

The spinners come complete with a backplate. The Avistar calls for a 2-1/4" spinner. You are also going to need to get the correct spinner adapter. They are different for each engine. If I remember correctly you have an OS 46 on your plane (if I'm wrong please correct me). Here are the links:

Great Planes
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK231&P=]Great Planes 2-1/4" aluminum spinner[/link]
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK235&P=M]Great Planes Adapter Kit O.S. .20-.40FP/.25-.46FX & SF [/link]

Tru-Turn
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKD64&P=]Tru Turn Spinner 2-1/4" Standard 2-Blade [/link]
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKE02&P=7]Tru Turn Adapter Kit O.S. .20 .50 K&B [/link]

Hope this helps

Ken

Spinners normally come with backplates. Some ARF's come with really cheap (poor) quality spinners. I'm not saying yours did, just that some do. Yours may also may have had a MFG flaw. And then there is always: "Just plain ol' bad luck" and "Stuff happens". Not having been there it's real hard to say exactly if there was anything defective or done wrong.

Yes, it's an OS .46 AX. Thanks much for the links!

Pete, Great job on your maiden!!.... Loads of tips on how to get the fuel out, and it
should work... It's worth a try...... I try to paint/thinned epoxy the hard to see tank
fuse area to go along with the drain holes to catch any leaking tanks as soon as
possible.. Again Good job on your flight!!

Also on tanks that are in harder to install, or for me just about all my tanks, after
tank assm. I go ahead and fill them and even if it's just from the pressure that you
can build from the fuel pump and a blocked vent, check for leaks before installing...

a note on tanks some of the ones that come on the Hobbico ARF's are pretty week and as noted if the stopper is not tight enough or too tight blowing up the tank seal, you can get a leak mine did on my NEXTAR RTF filled my fuse with fuel only noticed it after a couple of dead sticks fuel, was running out the bottom I was bummed to say the least, sullivan tanks are a brand I like to use if I need to buy one. as for cleaning balsa denatured alcohol works well to break down the oil in the fueland evaporates quickly, it is also compatable with epoxy if you are going to seal your tank compartment you won't have any negative reactions, alcohol is also epoxy thinner and used for clean up FYI. if you dont seal the compartment just adds weight IMO wick some thin CA around the seams to make sure they havn't loosened up.
as for your spinner send it back to tower hobbies and most likely they will replace it free ,funny I have not had any problems with the plastic spinners I have but I use a elec. starter not to into the chicken stick
the motor mount and spinner I use on my 46AX is from a nextar( I got a extra one from tower) the engine mount and spinner was 12$ the rubber engine mounts separatly are 2.20.
I like alum spinners but use them for larger engines not for a 46 if you insist on getting one for your engine try Dave Brown products he has good prices

Well I got some K2r but I didn't have time to try cleaning up the fuse. I took the engine and fuel tank out and tightened up the stopper. I put the neck of the fuel tank under water and blew some air into it and I didn't see any bubbles. I'm going to replace the tubing anyway. On Saturday I'll start it up with the wings off and move the plane around to see if there is any more fuel leaking.

I ordered a slotting kit for future builds, and an aluminum spinner and adapter from Tower that should get here Friday. I'll also test out the new fuel pump they sent me before I go out there.

I don't know if it was this way before I flew it, but the monokote is separated a bit on the left side of the fuse behind the wings. I pulled on a few of the glued joints and everything seems tight still. I didn't notice any play in the parts or anything. I'll double check it when I get to the field, but I'm worried that the fuel did more damage than I can see.

Perhaps a new ARF Avistar is in the near future.

I remember that I replaced the plastic spinner that came with my Avistar with a Dubro plastic spinner. Dubro spinners are very durable and are of high quality, and I still use them in all my 40 and 60 size planes. Another alternative is the Dubro spinner nut.

Unfortunately it's not uncommon for covering to want to come loose on any ARF. An investment in a covering iron to iron the covering down tight when new is always a good idea. Is the base coat loose or is it trim pieces that are loose? If oil has gotten under there it will be difficult to get it to stick now on it's own.

I'm not sure Bruce. I have to take a look when I get home. I haven't had any time to look at it closely. Since it's on a flat part of the fuse, will a regular clothes iron on a very low setting work? Or is that asking for disaster?

I'm also trying to think of easy ways to transport this stuff out to the field. Fuse, wings, and a box with all my field equipment. Some of the guys there have wagons they use. hehe. Doesn't help that it's about a 1/2 mile walk through the field to get there.

Your wife may kill you if you use your household iron but it should work if it will fit into the spaces. Place a layer of old T-shirt between the covering and the iron to protect both. One from scratches and the other from stains.

Field box - some of the readers are making thier own out of roll around boxes found (I believe) at Wall Mart or Home Depot at a great price. You can do a search for these threads. They really seem to like them a lot.