I'm getting ready to buy either a Four * 40 or a Mid * 40 kit in the next few weeks for my second plane. I was wondering about the pro's and con's in bashing the kits to mount the engine sideways to put the exhaust beneath the plane. I know that if I do this, I'll have to remove the right cheek. Would I need to remove the left one also or could I build up the top and bottom area? Engine will more than likely be a TT46Pro. TIA

Hey Strikerone,

I have read lots of posts and seen lots of pictures where guys built cowls for the front end of their stars. With a little ingenuity, you should be able to mount the engine sideways on there and re-do the cheeks or enclose the motor with a built up cowl.

You oughta' get the mid-star. That way you could do a review for this forums group on it. I have read posts where guys say they think the mid star flies a little better or is more comfortable to fly than the fourstar.

Also, someone has or just had a midstar 40 for sale under airplane kits on this forums group. Check it out.

Jon

The Midstar is a better flyer. The 4* can be a screamer or go really slow. The trouble is it will keep going if you have anything more than 5 mph forward speed. The plane just keeps cruising along without losing altitude. This makes it really hard to land if the wind comes up and its even worse in a crosswind. The Midstar lands a bit faster with a more positive descent rate which makes it easy to land in windy conditions. A Midstar easily won all the events in a Funfly I held last summer. The plane just does everything really well. It beat out an Easy Sport and a 4* in the Limbo contest. A 4* was in the contest but didn't do well because of its floatiness. As for mounting the engine sideways, there really isn't any advantage on either of these 2 planes. There might even be a disadvantage because of the fuel tank position in relation to the mixture valve. You don't want the outlet of the fuel tank to be above the mixture valve or the fuel will tend to flow by gravity causing flooding of the engine. Inverted engines are even more difficult to get set up properly. Hope this helps. Fast!

I agree with _jon_ no reason you can't mount the engine sideways and still have a good looking coul. The major concideration though is the fuel tank realy needs to be mounted at the proper level or use a perry pump and regulator. I just helped a buddy fix an inverted instalation, and the perry regulator did the trick.

Regards,
Joe