Venture 60 vs. Four-Star 60  by Bruce Tharpe

As many of you know, I was the original designer of the Four-Star for Sig and still consider it to be a wonderful all-around sport model. I'm also aware of it shortcomings. The Venture 60 is my improved version of the Four-Star, incorporating all the changes I've always wanted to make. Here's my list of ten differences between the two kits.

1) Appearance. Most observers agree that the V60 is much sleeker than the FS.

2) Knife Edge. The FS has a nasty pitch to the belly with rudder application. To correct this, the V60 stabilizer was positioned lower on the fuselage and the rudder hinge line was swept back. It worked! The V60 does a beautiful, straight knife edge.

3) Landing Gear. The FS has a reputation for bouncing like crazy unless landed perfectly. The V60 gear is swept back to place the wheels under the wing LE for less bouncing. It's a two-piece gear, and is thicker than the FS gear.

4) Part Production. The V60 parts, like all BTE kits, are machine sanded to their final shape. Aluminum templates are used to produce parts with smooth edges and accuracy that rivals laser-cutting (without the burnt edges!).

5) Wood Sorting. As a small company, BTE is able to take the time to inspect and sort all of the balsa for its proper usage. No need to replace wood in BTE kits!

6) Final Weight. The V60 typically weighs about a pound less than the FS60. I think this is due to the additional structure in the FS wing (unneccessary) and the careful wood selection used at BTE. I've also been told that the FS60 kit often comes out tail heavy, requiring extra weight in the nose to balance.

7) Design Simplicity. The V60 tail surfaces are solid balsa, and the stabilizer features a spruce spar for additional strength. Careful wood selection results in parts that are light and stiff.

8) Tapered Control Surfaces. The elevators and ailerons on the V60 are tapered for streamlining, weight savings, and flutter resistance. The FS surfaces are all flat pieces of wood.

9) Time Savers. All of the control surfaces for the V60 come in the kit already beveled along the hinge line. This saves you time, elbow grease, and aggravation.

10) Details. The bottom edge of the V60 firewall is beveled to match the slope of the fuselage bottom. The V60 uses balsa pushrods for the rudder and elevator. The aileron torque rods are angled forward to provide natural aileron differential for arrow-straight rolls. The V60 plans are rolled, not folded like the FS kit.

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