After some 60-70 flights I've decided to update my Venture. I thought I
would send some updated photos and comments. Please update or add this
information to your Venture 60 website.
I've recovered my Venture to make it more attractive and visible while flying. I
did make several modifications to the plane to reduce the previous 8 lb 1 oz
weight and improve its flight performance (especially since l live and fly at
4700'). I moved both the elevator and rudder servos to the rear of the plane.
This allowed me to remove 1.8 oz of lead for balance and remove the 1.5 oz
pushrods. I switched to 3" Kavan wheels for a .5 oz weight reduction.
Lastly, I modified the RX battery location by building a tray to mount the
battery in the rear of the fuselage, this moved my CG back to 4" from the
leading edge. The plane flew better in this configuration and the inverted flat
spins were improving (closer to being flat).
I did decide to take this improvement exercise one step further with the
installation of the new Saito 100. This motor is 2 oz lighter than my OS 91 fs
and swings a 15x6 prop at 9200 RPM. I am very pleased with the plane's
performance now. It weighs 7 lbs 12 oz and has very impressive flight
performance.
The plane continues to exhibit all the Venture characteristics that Bruce has
engineered into it and now has the performance that catches everyone attention.
NOTE: My photos show .5 oz of lead added to each side of the fuse for the
4" CG balance to offside the weight of the APC prop. My LHS did not have
any wood props on hand, but I do have some on order and will remove this lead
upon installation of the wood prop. Just FYI, the APC 15x6 prop weighs 2.8 oz vs
.8 oz on a 14x6 wood prop previously used on OS 91 fs engine. (Changing to a
wood prop and removing this weight will further reduce the plane's weight by 3
oz.)
Thanks for your continued work on this great web site!
You're welcome, Don. Thanks for sending your photos!



