The two “add-ons” to the basic Venture 60 kit that were used in this review (above left) were the ABS wheel pants kit and the dual aileron servo mount kit, both available from BTE. The perfectly cut and shaped ribs and fuselage


and spars will be very pleased to learn that the vertical-grained shear webs are pre-cut and fit perfectly. In fact, they are so precise- ly cut that they serve as guides to position the ribs and keep them in position for gluing in place. Instead of installing all of the ribs in a panel and then fitting the webbing be- tween them, the ribs and webbing are alter- nated by first gluing in a rib, then a shear web, then the next rib, etc., repeating the process throughout the length of each panel. Because I chose to use separate aileron servos, I made use of the supplemental dual aileron servo kit comprised of pre-cut ply and block parts. All of the parts in the pack- age fit perfectly between the rib bays and were anchored securely with little extra work.


When it came to installing the pre-shaped ailerons, it was simply a matter of slotting the ailerons and the trailing edge to match using my “Great Planes Slot Machine”. Once they fit in a satisfactory manner using the supplied “Easy Hinges” to test-fit every- thing, the ailerons were removed and set aside for covering.


Each wing panel was essentially complete (including the center sheeting) before the panels were joined. As noted above, a ply


formers (above right) make this kit a joy to build. Note that even the smallest fuselage turtle deck formers have cleanly cut slots for the top stringers with no chipping or splitting.


wing joiner with the correct dihedral angles was slipped in between the spruce main spars and liberally epoxied in place. After sanding the center sheeting one last time to assure a smooth external joint surface, the supplied 2-inch fiberglass tape was CyAed in place, making the wing as strong as it needed to be without imposing any excess weight penalties.


Before leaving the wing to be covered, one of the things I really appreciated was Bruce’s inclusion of 5⁄16-inch thick wing tips which pro- vided ample edge surface for attaching iron- on covering without wrinkling or puckering.


Building the fuselage


The fuselage and its several ply and lite- ply parts are where the labor-intensive work that Bruce has done for you really shows up. Sub-assemblies such as


the pre-tapered


landing gear mount, the pre-beveled fire- wall, the thoughtful gauges for bulkhead placement, and the precision-fit fuselage doublers catch your attention as you get into the building sequence.


The fuselage went together quickly after the preparation of the sub-assemblies was complete, including drilling the firewall for the motor mount and the throttle cable. The


fuselage sides, firewall, internal formers, cockpit floor, and fuselage top and bottom were rubber-banded together with their “tab and slot” construction making it both easy and accurate. Once I was satisfied with the preciseness of the alignment, it was no trick to grab my bottle of medium CyA and quick- ly hit all of the joints from the inside. After the initial application had set, I went back over each joint to make sure there was a small glue fillet where the respective pieces came together.


Thanks to the perfectly cut and notched fuselage formers, the turtle deck built up quickly with the aid of the 75-degree bevel tool that set the angle of the rear cockpit for- mer/headrest and later the lite-ply instru- ment panel.


Upon completion of the basic fuselage structure, the wing hold-down blocks were added, the wing fitted to the wing saddle, and ¼-inch holes drilled for the wing bolts. The plane uses hold-down blocks that have to be tapped, rather than blind nuts, so a ¼– 20 tap is required to accommodate the sup- plied ¼–20 × 1½-inch nylon wing bolts.


Tail assembly As noted in the introductory paragraphs,


The ailerons and elevator halves are pre-shaped and tapered (above left), requiring only a minimal amount of sanding to get them ready for assembly and installation. All controls were hinged with the provided Sig Easy Hinges. The illustrated assembly manual (above right) clearly shows each step of


FLYING MODELS


construction and has a check-off box to the left that can be used when an individual step is completed. Larry notes that some steps have multiple components that can be overlooked by less-than-careful reading. A thorough reading of the manual is a good practice before the build takes place.


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