RE: BTE Venture 60
wow - bruce brought her back into production! that is great. there is a pretty good venture 60 cult out there ... and i am one! i actually still have one on the workbench from a kit i bought many years ago. here is a link to a post on mods for it. I had a bunch of fun building a cowl on this last one! good luck, you are going to love this plane! http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_262560/mpage_5/key_/tm.htm
Posted on: 9/10/2010 9:48 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9993743

RE: Bridi Killer Chaos 60 Build Thread
nicely done seamusg! Watching closely, a bridi bird is on my to do list. - bo
Posted on: 11/12/2009 10:44 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9249964

RE: Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
super chief - yel914's airplane has an fg cowl post #99. the one pictured above is a balsa cowl that i built up with blocks and sanded into shape. you can get a little better look at it in the sanding stage on post 98. i will look and see if i have a couple more pictures of the balsa buildup. bo
Posted on: 11/10/2009 10:49 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9244900

RE: Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
continued progress on the venture 60. she is starting to come together. I have spent the last week or so glassing my hardpoints and general chores. Here are a couple of bad pictures in the assembly stage. Time for final sanding and prep for covering. Thinking of a richard petty stp type covering scheme ... i am a nascar fan afterall ... and i think it will look pretty racey. All in all pleased with the progress so far. Bo
Posted on: 11/8/2009 11:31 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9239413

RE: Blue Angel - Build
Coming in very late on this. 8178 - I have spent the last 2 weeks pouring over this thread. All I can say is your attention to detail and worksmanship is unreal! I am an avid tinker, and do good work, but have always aspired to be a craftsman. You sir, are exactly that, and I wanted to thank you for sharing your knowledge! I now am off to ready your other build threads, and those like it. What a fantastic resource this is! Thank you again 8178, an I hope you are flying the wings off the blue angel! Bo Gorham
Posted on: 11/7/2009 11:00 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Classic RC Pattern Flying"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9236755

RE: Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
i hear you on the sideways mount. i contemplated it, but like the looks of it upside down better. vanity over functionality ... not good huh!? after looking at things further last night, I am pretty sure i can route the fuel lines pretty well with some creativity. I am going to get a check valve though just in case. one thing i will do is mount it inverted in my test stand and play around with the tank elevations like in the model, and see how painful it will be to start and idle it inverted. Should have done that before I committed on the orientation and the cowl layout. live and learn ... again and again!
Posted on: 10/27/2009 10:24 AM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9205681

RE: Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
thanks yel914, i like what you did as well! I was looking for pictures of my old plane and found this thread still kicking around. I had to laugh, 8 years ago seams like a lifetime ago. In that timeframe i moved my family from england, to tappahannock virginia, and now live in st pete florida. i hope we will stick around for a while somewhere! [:D] no building today, but did start to scratch my head. I think i screwed up a bit, and could use some advice. Take a look at the pictures ... My engine is a 2 stroke supertigre .61 and it is inverted. the drawing is accurate enough for eyeballing the layout. Someone had mentioned a valve for the fuel line to prevent siphoning? and details on where to find one? how good are these things .. meaning can i move the tank further up above the carb with a valve so i have more fuel line routing options? Definately could use some common sense feedback on install options - forgive the pics ... 1) Tank layout in reference to the thrust line and carb location 2) Picture showing firewall holes so i can visualize fuel line routing 3) Alternate view ... is this orientation at all acceptable? thanks in advance! bo
Posted on: 10/26/2009 11:07 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9204864

RE: Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
hello all - it has been 7 years since i started this topic, and it has been almost that long since i have messed around with airplanes. kid is in college now (actually nearly finished), and we are settled in down in florida now, so i figured the time is right to make some balsa dust. i picked up another venture 60 kit back when bruce ran his last batch, and it has been sitting on the shelf in the garage since then. i figure that it was such a good flier, that the venture girl would be an ideal bird to get the thumbs working again. a lot of stuff has changed since i have been in the hobby. love seeing the spread spectrum gear and no friggen freq pins! i have my eyes on a futaba 7c faast. that should end up being a nice upgrade from my old 6 channel skysport radio! i have my old irvine .61 engine (recovered from my last crash), and i tried to fire it up. unfortunately, it has a lot of damage, and even though i could get it running, i am not happy at all with it. so, i went ahead and got a supertigre .61, and had fun harassing the neighborhood and burned a gallon of fuel through it. as to building the venture, i see there has been a bunch of pretty killer builds on the forum, and so my design changes are definately influence by what i have seen here! [:D] i really liked the racer hot-rod look that the soft balsa cowls bring to her, and definately wanted to raise the nose sheeting to add more profile area to the plane. so that's the plan .... my setup supertigre .61 probably swing a 13-6 prop futaba 3152 servos all around (throttle probably a 3004) aileron servos in the wings rudder and elevator servos in the tail - my last one balanced nose heavy inverted engine fits the best lower the fuel tank as much as possible built up balsa cowl raised and radiused nose sheeting sullivan tail wheel wheel pants here are some pics of the progress so far. wings built, fuse assembled, cowl built and going through sanding and general putzing. this was my first cowling attempt, and it came out ok. i wanted a more rounded nose than what i got, but i sure know what to do next time! i might be able to spice it up more with an air intake on the nose, i am sure i will give something like that a whack! here you go, looking forward to getting this thing in the air, and it is good to be back on the forum. feedback welcome! bo
Posted on: 10/25/2009 8:39 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9201636

RE: Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
Hi chuck ... Hey post the pictures of you servo mounts in the tail. I would love to see how you engineer that. I will be relocating to the Richmond area, do not know where yet, but we are looking in the country. I have not had a chance to fly for several months now, and I am going crazy! I trust you are in the NOVA area. Bruce has put together an awesome kit, and I know you will enjoy it. Keep us posted on your progress! Bo
Posted on: 10/2/2003 3:40 AM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1175692

Homemade Incidence Meter
Hey Kota-air ... Are you going to post your incident meter design? Very interested ... Thanks, Bo
Posted on: 8/19/2003 9:15 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1063921

Need Uk Based Help !!!!!!!!!!
Well, I am glad that we got you part of the way there. Just drill your mount out for your engine and pickup the proper hardware at a local DIY store. I prefer to thru bolt engines into the mount, and use standard hardware with teflon locking nuts for the engine mounts. Never had a failure. I am glad that I could help out a little bit anyway. Cheers .... Bo
Posted on: 8/19/2003 9:11 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1055844

Need Uk Based Help !!!!!!!!!!
Hey Barry ... did you get the screws? My wife dropped them in the post on thursday. Let me know. Bo
Posted on: 8/18/2003 9:30 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1055841

Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
That is pretty wild, the yellow covering looks orange in the picture. I like the effect though. It looks like your really nailed the covering job. So, what do you think of the plane, awesome flyer huh? I will be moving back to virginia, and it is will be as perminant as anything else I have ever done. That is where I am from, and my family is pretty excited to have us back around. We have been over in Europe for four years now. As for a radio, I will be picking up a computer job when I get settled in. For now though, British Airways back and forth accross the pond is going to be the closest I will be to flying! Have fun with the venture, and let me know what your next project is going to be Bo
Posted on: 8/14/2003 9:06 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=262632

Need Uk Based Help !!!!!!!!!!
DragonHeart ... I feel your pain! I happen to have 4 6/32 screws from my dear departed venture 60. I actually had to pick them up in the states as no one around here carried them. Lesson learned for those living here in England. Replace all SAE hardware with metric equivalents. Email me your address at [email]usagorhams@btopenworld.com[/email] and I'll pop them in the post for you. Bo
Posted on: 8/14/2003 8:54 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1055839

Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
Yahoo!!!! Great job man! Congrats on the maiden flight, and she really looks great. You are going to have a ball with it. It looks like I will be out of the game for a while, as I just got the notice that I am being transfered back to the states. So, for now my kit playing is suspended, but on the bright side, I get to buy a new radio and stuff when I get home! Anybody need a decent futaba radio and a squad of receivers with UK specs? Again, great job boneman, I know you have really put the time in that airplane! Bo
Posted on: 8/12/2003 7:48 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=262629

Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
Hey boneman ... post some pictures of that bird! Good luck on the maiden, and let me know how it went. I was back in the states over the last week or so, and going to every model shop I could find. Still have not decided on what I am going to do. Again .. good luck with it, and let's see that thing! Bo
Posted on: 8/10/2003 9:09 AM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=262621

Covering _ checkerboard Pattern falling off back of wing?
I don't know if this is what you are looking for but thermagator did a tutorial on a flowing checkerboard in the tips and techniques section. Try this thread: [URL]http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=712709&forumid=63&highlight=flowing+checkerboard[/URL]]
Posted on: 7/31/2003 8:15 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1010818

covering ailerons, elevator etc
Concur ... I cover then hinge. It makes for an easier and better job. Bo
Posted on: 7/30/2003 7:45 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=1007708

Control horn installations..
Boneman .... I put down fiberglass tape on my airleron mounts to harden the mount point on my venture. It worked just fine ... and the mount points held up well even after the beatings I gave that bird! :) Bo
Posted on: 7/29/2003 8:30 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Tips & Techniques"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=31482

Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
Just a quick update. I have been discussing the situation with Bruce via email, and he took a look at some pictures of the broken tailfin and elevator. He said that it did not look like flutter, because the half that broke was on the same side as the push rod connection. He said that typically you would hear the vibration (even above engine noise) and it is the opposite side that would usually fail. He also said that he only gets a couple reports a year of flutter, and feels that the design is sound. More than likely the failure occured where I cut the covering off when I epoxied the stab to the fuse. I probably scored the balsa, and it weakend in use, and I am sure that I caused damage that I did not notice in my previous dumb thumbs accident. So my conclusion is that the design is sound, and it was my screwup. If I built another one however, I would consider glassing the elevator to add additional strength. I would like to get another one, it is such a great flying plane, the problem is talking my wife into it! Bo
Posted on: 7/24/2003 9:27 AM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=262618

Heads up guys ... I spoke too soon
Bad day at the field today. All was good, I was playing with my new hopped up rates, and then took her up to practice some spins. I did one spin of about 3 turns, pulled it out, cranked up the throttle and pulled up to gain hieght a try another spin. I noticed what looked like something coming off the back of the airplane, and then boom, it went straight into a dive .. about 200' and nothing I could do would stop it. Into the ground it went, so hard that it drove the engine about 6 inches into the ground. No matter how I look at it, I think it is totalled. When I went to pick up the pieces, I saw that the right side stabeliser and right elevator half was missing in action. I searched and searched and finally found the parts about 100 meters from the crash site. I don't know for sure, but it sure looks like I had a major failure and the stab broke off in flight, taking half of the elevator with it. Nothing but hard down after that! What caused it? No clue, could not tell you if it was stress, or flutter or what. After seeing the earlier post on flutter, it sure makes me suspicious, but I had seen no evidence of it earlier. I did have a dumb thumbs mishap with it earlier, and possibly caused more damage to it than it looked like. Words of warning though, pay real attention to the tail end of that airplane! Bo
Posted on: 7/20/2003 10:28 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=262616

Field Box Plans
There is tonnes of information on field boxes on the site. Do a search for field boxes, or just check out the tips and techniques forum and see the thread from Billy He!! Bo
Posted on: 7/20/2003 7:15 AM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=974160

wing repair question
You will be amazed at the damage that can be repaired on these balsa birds. Epoxy, additional bracing, lots of sanding and sometimes a little fiberglass thrown in for good measure will reserect just about anything. Flianbrian is right, it is time for you to roll up your sleaves, get some monocoat and a covering iron, and you will be in business. It really is easy, search the threads for covering help, practice on some scraps and you will soon be making it look like a pro! Use a new razor blade, and carefully cut the covering back close to a rib a couple of bays beyond the damage (give yourself plenty of room for a complete inspection and sanding). Fix your problems and apply new covering. Mix it up and use a good color combination, and it will look good as new with a custom finish. Keep posting and we can help you through trouble spots. Bo
Posted on: 7/20/2003 7:13 AM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=974144

Best Morris design
Not an attempt to hi-jack this post but ... a couple of you guys have recommended the knife for first learning 3D. I am starting to lean in that direction, and thinking toward an Irvine .53 to pull it around. Is this a good combination for starting out as a ProBro wanna be? Bo
Posted on: 7/20/2003 6:56 AM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Profile and Fun Flying Planes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=960478

nose& tail , which is the better trainer?
I converted my Nova 40 to a tail dragger, the main reason was that I needed to replace the mains anyway (the origonal ones were too springy), and I knew that I my next models were going to be draggers, so what the heck! I did not find that the tail dragger was that difficult to control, just did some practice taxying, and a couple of practice take off runs. Sure, I have eaten a couple of props, but that was being a dumb thumb and garfing up a landing anyways. Just remeber to give her some up elevator when rolling out, and a nice flair on landing. If you do that you will be ok. As for the weather vane effect, sure you have to be aware of that, but it is easily compensated for by being ready for rudder input. Just be careful though, it is easy to over-compensate, and you end up chasing the plane around. I also make sure that there is no other flyers in the area when I am rolling out ... why push your luck on safety! The setup is straight forward. Put the main just forward of the CG, and install a tail wheel. The wheel I used has a rod that hooks into the rudder so that it is steerable. I did need to add extra bracing to support the new main mounts. All in all it was an easy setup, and cost less than 10 bucks to get it done. Here is a picture of the setup. Good luck with it ... Bo
Posted on: 7/19/2003 9:52 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=970868

Has anybody modified the rudder on a Somethin' Extra?
Do a search on the kit building forum. there are lots of modification discussions on the something extra. good luck ... bo
Posted on: 7/19/2003 1:45 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=972463

Starting a Venture 60 .... Suggested mods?
Hey boneman ... get that thing finished so you can fly it! I have been having a blast, it is a really good airplane, and I am learning allot with it. I did have a pretty serious oops though, and on it's 5th flight, Mr Dumbthumbs smacked it into the runway .... my mind went blank on an inverted pass, and yep up is down and down is up! Tore her up pretty good. Oh well, nothing that a little fiberglass, epoxy and a new wing kit would not cure! I ended up adding flag design on the wings, and now she looks and flys better than when I first finished it. Here it is now after the rebuild. As for setup, like I stated earlier, I had to put both the battery and reciever behind F3, and it is balanced at the rear end of the point marked in the plans. I also have increased my throws, for all control surfaces to the max on high rates, and to the plan on low rates. It is really responsive, and I can get it to hold a knife's edge really well, and it will do some mean spins (scared the He!! out of me the first time I got it into a flat spin). No problems with flutter, I saw that post too. All of my control rods are pretty tight, with not much slop at all. I did seal my hinge lines, I just used some clear packing tape on the bootom of the ailerons and elevator. I did not seal the rudder. The tape is pretty hidden, and shucks, no one looks on the bottom of it anyway. One thing I would recommend is to drill some vent holes in the cockpit. I did not do that and have problems with it fogging up when I first get it out to the field in the sunshine. Good luck on finishing, post some pictures, and get that thing up in the air! Cheers ... Bo
Posted on: 7/18/2003 9:12 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=262615

another dumb question..
As aernaut said most of the designs are made using film. If you look in the tips and techniques forum there are some really good threads that talk through techniques used to do some really great looking graphic effects. Good luck ... Bo
Posted on: 7/18/2003 11:29 AM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=968293

More aeorbatics help ....
Thanks John, and I look forward to seeing your articles. As for pattern flying, maybe in the future, but I really like the idea of learning how do the moves correctly from the start, instead of learning and enforcing bad habits. So thanks in advance for the assistance! Bo
Posted on: 7/14/2003 9:01 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=950689

Great input ....
Thanks John. I have scanned through the article, and it does help allot! Curious though ... chapter 3 ... of how many? and what's the odds of getting my grubby paws on those articles? If you need a good beta tester (well probably alpha anyway) of your articles ... use me, as I need the help. I practiced y axial rolls today, and did better at times, and much worse at others. I did start experiencing the heading changes like you described, so I am sure it is because I was holding elevator in too long. I also will take a look at changing my aileron rates high 1 roll in a second, low 1 roll in 4 seconds. I had an old gent come by this morning and talk with me, and he was coaching me some on the rolls (and other things). I fly at an old abandoned WW2 airfield in Nottinghamshire that used to host lancasters, and also is where the american gliders were assembled and staged for D-Day. He turned out to be a Lancaster pilot, and we ended up talking for hours. I am an American expat over here, and when he heard my accent, and saw my interest in the area and airplanes, he really opened up. Sorry ... I digress .... thanks for the assistance, and I would love to get my eyes on some more of your articles! Bo
Posted on: 7/13/2003 2:50 PM by Author "bgorham" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=950687