Thought you'd get a kick out of the following email and pictures.   This plane is probably the last Venture 60 kit that you sold.  Note that it is lettered with Custom Cut Graphics "BTE-V60B08"  ... my second V-60 (B) and almost completed in 2008.

 

It weighs in at about ten pounds with an OS FS-91 and 8 oz. of lead up front and flies absolutely great.   (26.3 oz/sq. ft. wing loading)    I know that "lighter files better" ... however a bit heavier works well when the wind is blowing hard and others stay on the ground!!!  It has two aileron servos.

 

The extra weight resulted from 3/32 inch balsa sheeting the entire plane, followed by 3/4 oz/sq. yd fiberglass attached with 5 coats of Cabot water base Polyurethane, spray painted with three coats of thinned Sherwin Williams exterior latex paint and topped with Minwax waterbase Polycrylic for fuel proofing.  The purpose was to experiment with this finishing technique with plans to use it on a (next project) scratch built Piper Comanche PA24-250 model (nominal 96 inch wing span).  We owned a third share of a Comanche in the 1970's so this next model project should rekindle some very fond memories.

 

If you recall our conversation when I ordered this last V-60 .......

 

  I built my first V60 kit in 2000 and lost it last year to an in-flight battery failure (dummy did not check the date on the receiver battery and it got old and died at a bad time).  The plane was much fun to have "as a fly it anytime machine" so I decided to build another.  The problem was that you had stopped production of the kit.  You put your last production pieces in a box and sent them and thus this build.  I've built five other of your kits and this one was every bit as much fun to build.

 

Jack D. Thomas is Jack "Daniel" Thomas and a surprise fourth grandson at our youngest son's house.  They have an 18 year old graduating from high school this year and this almost year old young fellow along with a couple more children in between.  The little kid seems to have taken over this family up in cold MN.     Daniel is our son's name and hence the Jack D. name with no connection to Tennessee whisky!

 

As has been the tradition, our family members' names are used on the sides of my planes.   All of the names of our children and their mates and our grandchildren (except Jack) are on the side of one of my planes. It is now his turn to be pilot.  The plane was completed about the first of February and test flown a few weeks ago.  It preformed very well. 

 

Thanks for listening to this long tale which is written on a day that is too windy to fly. 

Especially thanks for all of the truly great kits you have sold me.  They all fall under the title of "best kits I have ever built".