The open fuselage structure provides generous room for any radio installation. The author used a Futaba 6EX 2.4 GHz system with four 3004 servos (above left) for the control surfaces and one 3003 servo for the throttle. After the fuselage is covered, the canopy (above right) was glued in place using


the stabilizer is from hand selected balsa for weight savings and comes in two pieces with a 1⁄8 × 5⁄16 × 24-inch spruce spar joining the two pieces for a light, warp-free surface. The two sides of the elevator were assembled with a 1⁄8-inch pre-bent joiner wire and rein- forced with fiberglass tape over the area where they were joined. The fin and rudder employ three pieces of ¼-inch balsa with dif- fering grain directions, again providing a light, warp-free assembly.


Once the tail group was completed, final sanded, and test-fit into position, the plane is essentially complete except for installing the control surfaces, radio, and wheel pants. The wheel pants are an optional kit avail- able from BTE and offer an element of style to the landing gear. The barebones photo shows how nicely everything about the plane fit prior to covering.


Completing the Venture 60 I used a Futaba 6EX FAAST 2.4 radio sys- tem for control with a Saito .72 4-stroke en- gine for power. I was completely satisfied with both as they matched the needs of the Venture 60 perfectly. The plane was covered with Metallic Red MonoKote with a match- ing metallic red automotive spray for the ABS wheel pants. The large, clear canopy was glued in place after covering with Pac- er’s “Formula 560 Canopy Glue” and then trimmed with ¼-inch Great Planes striping tape to hide the glue seam and accent the area.


It was necessary to add a bit over three ounces of lead to the nose to get the plane to its recommended balance point, but I did not feel that was an excessive penalty, given the size of the plane. Had I installed the servos further forward in the cavernous fuselage to start with, that would have eliminated any need for ballast, but I would have had to ad- just the length of the pushrods in order to do that.


Up, up, and away!


The perfection of the kit parts and the pre- cision of construction carried over into the flight performance of the plane. It is one of


FLYING MODELS PHOTO: KEN ISAAC


The Venture 60is a very stable, smooth flyer with excellent aerobatic abilities, thanks to its long moments and great design parameters.


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Pacer “Formula 560” canopy glue. The thin white bead shown dries clear and then was covered with ¼-inch Great Planes striping tape for a neat finish. A small vent hole was drilled just behind the pilot bust to allow the cockpit area to “breathe” when the hot sun hits it.


those “flies as good as it looks” airplanes and offered no surprises from initial flights on. The maiden flight was a straight run down the runway and lift-off with just a bit of back pressure on the right stick. A couple of clicks of up and three clicks of right aileron and the plane was trimmed.


As might be expected, all maneuvers are smooth and more like a Pattern ship than a sport flyer, thanks to the long moments and generous wing area. To fly verticals out of sight would require a larger .80 or .90 size 4- stroke engine, or perhaps an OS .75 AX or similar 2-stroke, but for solid sport flying and verticals as high as I want them, the Saito .72 is just right.


Likewise a stall turn is a thing of beauty and very satisfying to perform. Knife-edge is horizon to horizon thanks to the stab placement and rudder hinge line. Rolls are graceful and axial, but it would be hard to call them snap-rolls with the trim setup I am using. Bruce mentions in the instruction booklet that some modelers have reduced the wing area by one rib bay per wing in or- der to increase the speed of the rolls, but at the expense of increasing the landing speed a bit.


And speaking of landings, the first landing was hotter than it needed to be, resulting in a little skip down the runway. Subsequent landings showed how slowly the plane can land and were all smooth and bounce free. In all, building and flying the Venture 60 was one of the most satisfying modeling ex- periences I have ever had. From opening the box and finding all that beautiful wood and precision-cut pieces to seeing the plane in flight has just been an aesthetically perfect experience. Thank you, Bruce, for going far beyond any modeler’s expectations in pro- ducing and re-introducing this kit. In the age of ARFs, this has been truly special! For those wanting to build a Venture 60 of your own, go to Bruce’s web site by Googling “Bruce Tharpe Engineering” or directly to the site at www.btemodels.com/. There you will find pricing and ordering information, and as a special treat scroll clear down to the bottom of the site and click on the Venture 60 link. There you will find beautiful rendi- tions of the plane from throughout this country and the world. Very few designs have such a devoted and numerous follow- ing that an entire web site is dedicated to it. The Venture 60 is that kind of airplane.


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