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The Hobbico Avistar 40 Mk II AWARF is classified as a sport/trainer plane. It features a semi-symmetrical airfoil which gives the model a good combination of aerobatic performance and trainer stability. The kit has excellent instructions with photos of every step of plane building. The package includes all necessary parts to complete the model except the engine and radio. The kit contains the pre-assembled fuselage, separate right and left wing halves with mounted ailerons, horizontal stab with elevator and vertical fin with rudder. All of the parts are precovered with a tough polyester film in 5 color trim. The wing halves are assembled with the plywood joiner between the spars and an alignment peg in holes at the trailing edge. The dihedral angle is about 4°. The plywood joiner pieces were warped and it took a lot of effort and patience to glue them together to get a straight detail. After the wing halves are joined with epoxy, the aileron servo tray must be installed. Assembly of the fuselage includes installing the wing dowels and tail surfaces and mounting the landing gear and the engine. The assembly guide tells how to install the throttle and steering pushrods on the opposite side for 4 - stroke engines. The engine mount is made of fiber glass halves that are attached to the firewall using four machine screws. The fuel tank is mounted by friction in the former. This can cause the fuel foaming and the shock absorbing mounting is preferable. The ply formers except firewall are glued with CA. It is recommended that the formers be strengthened with a sufficient amount of epoxy. After the servos and receiver are installed and the control throws are adjusted, the model must be balanced. If a SuperTiger GS 40 is installed, consideration must be give to the fact that it is heavier than O.S. 40 FP by about about 4 ounces (100 grams) and it will be difficult to locate CG in the proper place even by moving the batteries and the receiver. It becomes necessary to add some lead weight near the tail which may offset any gain from the more powerful engine. On Sunday, the Avistar 40 was flown seven (7) time. An acquaintance, Alexander, who is experienced pilot was selected to make the first flight. All controls were good and the Super Tiger 40 was already broken in. The engine was started and adjusted for proper running and the plane took off. It needed a small amount rudder and elevator trim to fly straight and level. The power of Super Tiger was enough with throttle at about the half-way point. The CG was at the 30% chord position with about 2 ounces (60 grams) of weight in the tail. The flight was very stable and after some time, the instructor turned over the the transmitter for training. Several hours had been spent with a CSM simulator which proved to be invaluable. It was very easy to control the plane. Aerobatics were not attempted since the wing was held on by rubber bands but rolls and even inverted flight were excellent. The first five (5) landings were made by Alexander. On the sixth flight, solo flight was attempted and nothing bad can be said about the plane's behavior. The Avistar is very good flying model. |
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