You won't believe how fast this thing is!

today we explored an aircraft unlike anything you've seen before resembling a tiny egg with wings the quest air Venture shape is both thought-provoking and yet puzzling why was it designed this way why is it so short can people actually fit in it and what's up with the landing gear how do you even land this thing wait a minute this tail looks familiar where else have I seen it all these questions and more are easily revealed once you get to know the true story behind this fascinating design The Venture Saga Begins in the late 1970s Jim Griswald was a talented designer at Piper aircraft having previously worked for cesta and liet at a time when most Piper designs were utilitarian and not exactly exciting griswell created the Piper Malibu the Malibu was unlike anything seen before in general aviation it was Slender with a long nose long wings and sat on a tall landing gear on other general aviation designs the passenger was almost an afterthought in the Malibu however the passenger took center stage and enjoyed luxurious accommodations in a pressurized cabin allowing for longdistance flights with less fatigue in spite of the downturn of the economy in the 1980s the Malibu sold pretty well the Malibu's target market were high net worth individuals in corporations both with Deep Pockets who could afford the expenses associated with a six passenger aircraft that was both pressurized and turbocharged and that's when the light bulb went off for Mr griswell what if there was a two-seater version of the Malibu it would be infinitely cheaper to buy and operate this mini Malibu would open up a whole new market for business Travelers who needed to travel far complete their mission and get back home in time for supper and put the kids AB bed let's see how Jim accomplished his goals with his mini Malibu design along with his Piper coli Ed mcdono Jim rounded up a few investors and set up a new company named questair settling in Greensboro North Carolina their new aircraft was to be named The Venture in a bid to get as many ventures in Pilots Hands Across America Jim decided to sell the aircraft as a kit this would lower acquisition cost mitigating risk and liability but most important of all The Venture wouldn't have to jump through all the Hoops required to get the aircraft certified especially in an era when litigation costs were making certified aircraft almost unattainable remember the Malibu that Jim worked on it's been said the Venture is a Malibu that was hacked into three pieces and welded back together as a two-seater which is not entirely far from the truth there are many low reminders of the Malibu's Heritage built into the eventure the wings and tail for example are scaled down versions of the Malibus and use practically the same air foil its long nose houses a continental IO 550 with no turbocharging because of its short stance above the ground it uses a short prop with very thick blades allowing it to absorb all the horsepower and maximize thrust designed entirely using groundbreaking computer-based technology also known as CAD cam The Venture was built for maximum efficiency and little weight at the time the questair was competing for market share with two other fast home builds the lanir and glass a unlike those designs which Embrace fiberglass technology Jim and his team stuck to what they knew best and built the venture out of traditional aluminum instead the venture's rounded fuselage is intricately sculpted and flush riveted revealing a perfectly smooth skin that Rivals any aircraft with a composite fuselage and this is where we begin to understand why the Venture looks the way it does for starters the landing gear on most high performance aircraft are stowed away inside the wings which require a thicker WI Wing area and therefore more drag in order to minimize drag Jim opted to keep the wings razor thin so instead The Venture tucks the gears away inside the fuselage not unlike assassin 210 or an F-16 for that matter need to slow The Venture down in a hurry not a problem just slow down to 170 knots drop the landing gear and watch it come down at 3,000 ft per minute like an anvil because the Venture is very small to begin with the wheels are proportionately tiny as well making ground operation is a bit interesting but more on that later what about the venture's egg shape how can a plane that's so short even fly well notice how both wings and tail are very long and narrow this is called a high aspect ratio wing and works perfectly well for high performance missions the distance between the wing and tail is in perfect harmony which means it's just as stable as his competitors or any plane for that matter Jim griswell literally did away with as much fuselage as possible leaving only as much room as necessary for the cockpit and tail surfaces and thus creating one of the lowest drag designs ever built it should be noted that a venture is only 16 ft from nose to tail making it almost 8 ft shorter than assessa 150 so what makes people think the plane is so short is in fact the very wide fuse slush coupled with the long Wings which leads us to the next major Venture selling point remember when I mentioned that the Malibu was designed for maximum Comfort at long ranges well so was a venture the fuselage was an A striking 46 in across giving the pilot and passenger the same space as a Malibu part of this was because the landing gear was tucked away between the pilots which conveniently added to the feeling of spaciousness to the Venture so at this point you're thinking okay it's spacious and now the design is starting to make sense but I bet it takes a pilot like Bob Hoover to fly saying right there's no way this plane is safe to fly and once again you'd be wrong The Venture slender control surfaces were were perfectly synchronized with it side controllers allowing it to fly smoothly at Cruise speeds while giving a good control Harmony at low speeds and approach to Landing hey wait a minute there's another famous plane with side sticks the Cirrus SR22 it turns out that Jim griswell went to work for Cirrus years later and developed very similar side controls as used in The Venture the breakout forces felt on the controls are handled by Spring cartridges which further added to the stability of the Venture okay it's spacious well balanced and it flies well but I bet it lands faster than an F18 right wrong again the venture's wings are designed for both high and low speed employing Wing cuffs at the outer edges of the wing The Venture stalls at an easy and forgiving 60 knots in fact because of the spring cartridges used to handle control surfaces it is very difficult to stall The Venture and in most cases the plane will simply mush forward when the stick is pulled back so now you're probably wondering how fast is this tiny plane I'm glad you asked let's keep in mind that the original Malibu had a 310 horsepower turbocharged engine with less than half the size and half the weight the quest a venture was powered by a similar Engine with 280 horsepower and no turbocharging with this Arrangement most Ventures will easily cruise at 240 knots all while sipping only 13 gallons of fuel per hour to put this in perspective your average beachcraft Bonanza will burn about the same amount of fuel but fly at 100 60 knots I know it's an apples to oranges comparison but still at wide open throttle The Venture will easily clock around 270 knots well past 300 mph needless to say takeoffs are exhilarating and the Venture launches off runways Like a Rock Cruise climbs are conducted at 150 knots with a climb rate of over 2,000 ft per minute all this power and so little weight several Ventures have racked up many time to climb and world speed records for their category in fact one Venture flew up to 35,000 ft beating a record for altitude for a non-turbocharged plane while not exactly considered an aerobatic aircraft The Venture is rated for six positive G's and three negative allowing its Pilots to have a little fun while cruising along with a spacious cockpit The Venture will carry its pilot between 800 and 1,000 nautical miles depending of course on how fast the pilots want to arrive at their destination this is exactly what Jim grisal and intended for the tiny plane and it fulfills this Mission with ease so did Jim fulfill his dreams of filling the sky and every airport with Ventures unfortunately things didn't quite go as planned if you recall the Venture was sold as a complete kit and even came included with an engine and prop which was very rare for a kit at the time the kit sold for about $60,000 which was actually a good price considering it included a brand new continental IO 550 Jim estimate your average pilot could screw together a venture in about 2,000 hours the package was irresistible and over 100 kits were sold in the early '90s what new Venture owners didn't realize was the insane amount of time and dedication required to piece the aircraft together after spending thousands of hours many Venture kits were sold off in frustration for those few who made it to the Finish Line they had invested around 5,000 hours and up to 10 years in building their aircraft many began to realize why it was named The Venture unfortunately the long build time wasn't the only factor in the small Venture Fleet size recall that tiny landing gear bolted to the bottom of the plane it was a source of many headaches for new Venture Pilots the tiny nose wheel was commanded with a highly unique system which essentially allowed you to either turn the aircraft or use a brace but not both at the same time so this resulted in several Runway Excursion incidents several of which toled the plane and also discouraged many from wanting to to own or fly Venture another Quirk were the main landing gear oio struts which had so much play that when rocked to on side The Venture would keep leaning until the Pilot turn the plane the other way in an attempt to offer a more userfriendly version The Quest their Spirit was rolled out this one was powered by Continental with 210 horsepower but most notable of all were the fixed landing gear the spirit did not sell quite as good as a venture which made it clear what pilots really wanted over the years Venture owners have made modifications which improved handling and usability but as a company Venture never really bounced back and eventually kits were no longer being produced however Quest a LLC in Bolton Mississippi carries parts and supports the current Fleet of Ventures a real shame as its small group of owners is very passionate about the Venture The Venture can stall at only 60 knots while cruising at 240 knots meaning it has an enviable one to for performance envelope a few Ventures wound up in the Reno Nevada Air Races a prime example belonged to Mike Daisy modified to produce around 700 horsepower Mike only several races in its category no doubt that competitors were dumbfounded by the little egg speeding past them at over 400 mph between 20 to 30 ventures in spirits remain in airworthy condition as a tight-knit group venture owners across the country hang out together for the occasional fly in considering how fast the plane goes and how far it can fly not a tall order at all are you interested in owning a venture kits are no longer available however Ventures can be found from time to time on the used Market it does take some working knowledge of the aircraft to own and take care of plus some finesse and piloting but one thing is for sure Venture ownership means you fly a plane that's unlike anything else in the the sky and that alone is worth the price of admission even if it looks like an egg

Channel: Aircraft Adventures

Views: 885,042

Keywords: Questair Venture, Unique Aircraft Design, Piper Malibu, CAD-CAM, Homebuilt Aircraft, Questair, Continental IO-550, Aviation History, High-Performance Aircraft

Id: VfkmvqXSwW4

Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 22 2023