Avistar 40 Trainer
 

I have had an electric plane before and can fly ok but want to upgrade to a glow engine plane. I was thinking of the Avistar 40 trainer. What engine should I have in it. People have told me the OS .46 LA or the OS .46 FX. Which one of those should I use or should i us a different one?

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

Either one would be a fine engine. The 46FX has more power, but also costs about $48 more. Since its your first glow plane, my vote goes to the LA.

(But I will have to say that I love my 46FX). :)

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

I started with an Avistar with the 40LA. Very reliable motor. I only replaced the glowplug once in 6 months, but that was because of a "Wheels up, Rudder down" landing. I destroyed the Avistar trying to do things I wasn't ready to do. But the 40LA lives on, presently in a T34. A little short of power for the T34, but a great 2nd level trainer.

46FX
 

My first plane, only a few months ago, was an Avistar with the 40LA. It flew great, handled our grass field well, but I was never happy with it's sound or idle. I went to a 46FX, with an 11 x 5 prop, and things improved greatly! It now flys better with the extra power, the FX idles so smooth and quiet I have more confidence it won't die and I can bring it in slow for sweet landings. With the 46FX I placed two 700 mah batteries behind the first former to the rear of the servos to get the balance right. Added three inch wheels to help with the grass field and I am totally happy with this plane.
DickB

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

GET the .46 FX i learnd a lesson when i wanted a kaos i needed a bigger .46 and was stuk with the LA

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

"GET the .46 FX i learnd a lesson when i wanted a kaos i needed a bigger .46 and was stuk with the LA"

dont you mean a more powerfull 46? the 46 FX and LA are the same displacment.

The 46 LA and FX are both excellent motors but value for money i prefer the Thunder Tiger 46 or GMS 47, having said that the Avistar is probably suited to a smaller engine so i'd go with the Thunder tiger 42

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

I heard that the OS .46 LA does not last as long as the OS .46 FX. Is it true? and how long does it last?

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

The OS46FX and the Avistar is a good combination. I would recommend any High power 46-52 size engine for the avistar. I would recommend the Tower engine http://www.towerhobbies.com/products/towg0146.html

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

I've heard good things about the tower46, from what i understand its the same as the Vmax 46 we get here, i understand both are made by GM.

"I heard that the OS .46 LA does not last as long as the OS .46 FX. Is it true? and how long does it last?"

in short Nope, there are so many variables it is impossible to say without having them on the bench and tested to distruction, even then you may be testing an above ordinary LA against bottom of the barell FX or vice verce.

given good fuel, good treatment, correct proping, no contamination, etc etc both will last for many, many years, i have a second hand OS.20 that is probably 20 years old with 100's of hours running and it still purrs.

46fx.....
 

Hands down, go with the 46FX. Sure it's a bit more money, but you will not regret it. I should say go with the FX, or something equivalent. (I'm not trying to endorse OS here)

My point is, get an engine that you will feel confident putting in your second plane. I started out with the Avistar. I built a Sig Something Extra while wringing out my Avistar. When the time came, I took the 46 out of the Avistar and put it in the S.E.

I.M.H.O. Go ahead and spend the extra 40 bucks, and feel confident that when your ready to move on your engine will follow.

Bruckner Hobbies has the 46FX on sale now for $99.99
Shipping is $7.00

www.brucknerhobbies.com

Towers price is $109.00 + shipping. You do the math.

CDS

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

Since this Avistar is my first glow plane, me crashing the plane is high. I do have someone helping me to fly though, but i might crash on my first solo flight. Are the engines really fragile? I am only planing on using the plane for about 1 year then i want to upgrade to a different plane.

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

I have two Avistar's, one with a Thunder Tiger .46 Pro and one with the OS .40 LA. The .46 is a great engine and has more than enough power to do just about anything the plane can handle. The .40 is a good little engine to just putt around with. It doesn't handle upwind very well, but does a good job. For the money I just don't think you can go wrong with the TT .46. I have two of them, one with over 80 flights and a serious crash on it and the other on a 4*40, neither of which have ever given me a lick of trouble.

A quick note about the .40 LA, we had a public welcome fly day yesterday where we let the general public come and see what we were up to. I had my Avistar with the .40 on it there and one of the better pilots in our club was using it to let people take a turn on the buddy box if they felt like it. Considering our small club size we had an excellent turnout and figure that the plane was in the air for over 4 hours. It can go about 28 minutes on a full tank (10 oz.) so the people got a good chance to see what was what. The plane is one that I crashed in Mid December last year and got it back together about 2 months ago. The weather here is very dry right now and the temp yesterday was right around 89 degrees F. We are flying at about 6000 ft. ASL. The engine ran fantastic, not a bit of trouble. This is a bit lengthy, but I just wanted to let everyone know that even though the LA .40 is a bushing engine and probably not made for this kind of abuse, it impressed me with it's overall performance. Great little machine.

T.

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

tsawyer148 I live in Utah to, I saw on your info thing. Were do you fly in Utah?

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

We are in Cedar. We fly up here all summer and fly in St. George in the winter.

Where abouts do you fly up North?

T.

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

I fly at the Jordan River Parway Model port in north Salt Lake

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

"Are the engines really fragile?"
Not as fragile as balsa but more fragile than a brick, you could smash it beyond repair on the first crash or it could survive 100 crashes.

"I am only planing on using the plane for about 1 year then i want to upgrade to a different plane."

you may use it 1 year but then it could be 1 month or 3 years it depends on how you feel, guys i know that have been at it foe 20 years still bring out the trainer ocasionaly.

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

I've heard that is a good field. My wife's sister works with a guy at UPS and I think that is where she said he flies. Do you get down south at all?

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

I go to southern Utah for biking and camping and i would bring my plane if i knew were to fly.

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

Let me know when you are coming down this way and we can tear open the sky. We fly off an old dry lake bed just west of town for the most part but we are in the process of getting a new flying field, just as soon as we can get the county and the BLM to agree on a few things. If not we can go to St. George. Their flying field is great. It is at the end of the old airport, now the dragstrip. It is a big paved area with lots of room.

Drop me a line and let me know.

[email protected]

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

well i would'nt want to fly my avistar all year.....but it flew great for the first month........then i wanted a kaos and i needed a more powerfull .46 so i got the tower hobbies .46..........i also have a .91 fx that's going in my quest 90........i havnt used it yet but from what i've heard it's suposed to be a great engine.

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

I just got to fly my avistar select (os 40LA) and it flew great. I got to do rolls and loops with the engine. The guy training me had the 40LA for 2 years trouble free. He sold it and the buyer still flyes with it. The 40LA might not be the strongest engine, but it will be easy to tune and last forever.

My came with the plane since it is RTF, but if your buying it seperatly, get the FX.

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

no doubt the .46 LA is a great engine for the avistar it does every thing i want it to (on my avistar)

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

tsawyer i will give you notice if i come down there.

Avistar 40 Trainer
 

okeedokee...

RE: Avistar 40 Trainer
 

Might as well get the 46 FX if you already have a radio and servos and stuff, but if u dont have anything get the RTF that comes with the radio and the 40 engine, its a gread pack to get.