Venture 60 build from the Bruce Tharpe Engineering plan Click on any photo for a hi res version

The finished model shown with kind permision of Bruce Tharpe

20. Complete model, flight pics are from maiden.

First flight, nothing at all to worry about. Just have to spen the next dozen glights getting it dialed in.

19. Installation

Plenty of room for a neat install.

19. Finishing underway

Fuselage covered, and tail fitted.

18. Ready for covering

Fuselage will be covered with Oratex, sprayed and 2 pack fuel proofed, and the wings Profilmed (Oracover)

17. Canopy

I have an old canopy from a Mystic 75 I think, I've given up on trying to glue canopies in place these days, what I do now is screw them in place with M3 screws, using these inserts. Great for cowls too.

16. Fuselage

Complete fuselage ready for covering. I'll be using Oratex, sprayed and 2 pack fuel proofed.

15. Fuselage

Rear fuselage.

14. Wings

Servo fitted prior to covering, hatch or not to hatch, well I've never had a problem fitting servos this way. Complete wing ready for covering. This will be white Profilm, but I have some Hobby King checkered film for the underside trim.

13. Wings

Wing centre section glassed, and my prefered hinges - Robart pin hinges

12. Cowl

Here you can see the construction of the cowl,

11. Fuselage

Decided after much consideration to mount the engine sideways, I think it will look better than having it straight up, although it will mean a lot of extra work to make the cowl. Couldn't resist assembling to get a feel for the size, this is a big model.

10. Fuselage

There is quite a bit to do before the decks can be fitted and you loose access to the inside of the fuselage. There's the wing mounting blocks to be drilled, the undercarriage mounts, and the engine mount. What isn't so obvious is the front shelf for the tank. The undercarriage is a carbon fibre set from Hobby King. Once all fitted I'll add some reinforcing fibre glass and fuel proof the tank bay.

9. Tail area

The plan calls for 5/16 for the tailplane and ailerons, this isn't a stock size in the UK so I used 1/4 with 1/16 - glued together with 3M 77 spray contact. You can see in the second image the final make up.

8. Wing finishing

Wing sheeting completed and capping strips. I always fit wing servos in as i build, you can see here the control exit. WInd sanded awaiting glassing of the centre section.

7. Wing

Centre section proir to the sheeting. Shows the balsa solid block for the wing dowls, and the servo wires tucked away for now. And gaps are filled with Gorilla glue. The other is the wingtip detail.

6. Wing Joining

Wing joined, with dihedral brace - I'll also be glassing the centre section.

5. Fuselage

Wasn't ready to glue the floor in just yet (also made from balsa not lite ply as plan) as I'll need access to do the wing fixings, but I needed the headrest to get the position of the rear stringers, these must be straight. Rear formers fitted.

4. Fuselage

For ease of cutting I haven't followed the internal shapes for the doublers, here you can see the parallel relief rather than following the wing section as shown on plan. Also I'm having a servo at the tail for the elevator, and it's doubler can be seen in the second pic.

3. Wing

Wing with top sheeting showing the new arrangement with a D box, and the trailing edge being held flat while the glue dries.

2. Wing

A combination of rib tags and carbon rods to build the wing straight. Progress is fairly rapid, with 3" stock sheet for the webs.

1. Kitting up

First things first - I need a kit of bits. I had a set of ribs laser cut, but all the formers and fuselage parts are being hand made. I have changed the wing design to use a more traditional D box and solid leading edge.