Just got one of these from Abell RC. Haven't seen anything about this plane on the forums, so here goes a build thread.

The box arrived in good shape. Upon opening, everything was well wrapped with protective foam. Unfortunately, the tape straps had come loose, allowing parts to slip around inside. Some dings resulted.

After unwrapping everything, the big disappointment is that the covering is loose on everything. I spent a couple of days ironing it all back together. The covering material seems to be good quality and for the most part, after some work everything looks OK. Unfortunately, part of the rudder didn't go together well, and I'm left with a divot on a trim scheme separation line. Bummer.

The hardware looks reasonable, and the airframe design is nice: very light, with carbon fiber center tube and two-piece wing. The fiberglass cowl in the kit is the nicest one I've ever seen, with a plywood former at the back that ensures perfect alignment with the fuselage. I plan on using a Tower .46 on this one.

A test fit of the parts went well, but the elevator/stab is not in plane with the wing. More grinding is needed. Stay tuned.

I drilled the holes for the landing gear and got the mains and tailwheel mounted on the fuselage. I'd rather have the fuse sit on the wheels than on the formers and covering. The cowl screws in through the firewall, with the mounting screws hidden by the canopy and the belly cover. When everything's assembled, it's very clean and tidy with no exposed screws. I'm waiting for servos and such, so I put the plane together to check alignment of everything, and it's all good.

On this kit you have the option of mounting the servos on trays inside the fuselage and running pushrods to the tailcone, or mounting the servos on the outside of the tailcone. To keep pushrods short and direct I'm going to put them in the tail. The fuselage is extremely light; mostly of ply and hardwood. All together, this airframe weighs maybe 3.5-4 pounds. Need to get it on a scale for an exact number. It should perform well with a .46; can't imagine stuffing a .61 or .76 in it because of the very light construction.

I just picked one of these up on e-bay, quite a nice looking plane, I agree with you on the engine size,
can't see anything larger than a 46 in this one, anything more powerful is asking for trouble, don't think
the airframe could handle it. My thoughts are to use a GMS 40 in mine, I think it will be enough power for
the light airframe.

Are you going to box in the engine mount pedestal and put thin sheet on the firewall to keep fuel out of the
interior of the plane? I think I might also add a little more bracing to the landing gear plate as I fly off of a
grass strip.

Bill D.

I agree with you on boxing the plywood on the engine mount. Just received all the plunder so I'll start the assembly this week. Some epoxy is needed around the wing tube where it goes through the plywood, but otherwise the fuselage is well done.

Studied mine last evening and I think a platform to raise the fuel tank is also in order to center it
with the crankshaft. I do like the cowl attachment method. I will be slipping everything together
today (No flying here raining very heavy today, perfect shop time day) to get the feel of how it all
fits and weigh the bare airframe. Will post some pics of any mods I do if you don't mind.

Bill D.

Post as you please, Bill. I was sort of hoping someone else had put one of these together so I could get the details on what to do and what to avoid, so any tech advice is most welcome. I'm hoping to do servo install on the wings this PM and then move to getting the tail feathers finished and set up.

I found when I trial fitted the elevator that I had to file / sand out the tail post about 3/16"
so that it could slide through. Had to also make a slight mod to the cover over the landing gear
as it was fouling the gear with the measurements that were on the assembly manual.

How did your wing tube fit, mine was very tight, had to chuck it up in my lathe and take some
emery cloth to it and then ploish it with some 600 wet & dry, wet with alcohol, now it is a very good
tight easily sliding fit.

Bill D.

Put it on my digital fish scale last night, 3 lbs 1 oz w/o wheels bare frame with
everything before engine & radio installation. Surprisingly light but strong fuselage.
Will go over all joints with capenters glue that can be reached over next 2 evenings,
will be real easy with the top section lifting off the fuselage main structure, the inside is
very accessible, will post some pics tonight.

Capt Crash could you post a pic of the front of your canopy section that lifts off, I am
interested in seeing if yours is slotted to clear the cowl attachemnt screws, as that looks
like another mod I will have to make to mine. There are a few quirks with this plane but I
think all will be overcome and it will be a joy to fly.

Bill D.

On the canopy of my plane there are two holes in the front bulkhead that line up perfectly with the allen heads of the cowl screws, so it snaps right into place. Also, the CF tube fit perfectly, and so did the wing panels. I put it all together for the photo shoot and everything assembled easily. I did have to grind out the slot for the elevator to get clearance.

Here are a few pics of the tank tray I made and the boxing of the engine pedestal.
I used 1/16th" aircraft ply for the bottom of the tray and 1/8th" Okahume Plywood,
a marine plywood as strong as aircraft ply but less than half the weight, for the sides
and to box in the engine pedestal. Will mount the servos in aft fuselage for short
direct runs to the rudder & elevator. I have also decided to use my spare Magum 52
XLS with the Magnum Pitts muffler.

The second pic is the slight mod I had to do to the bottom landing gear cover panel.

Bill D.

Nice work on your Velox, Bill. I spent this evening glueing in the elevator/stab. Yesterday, did hinges on wings and rudder. The white covering on mine seems to separate, with the clear material pulling away from the colored part of the covering. Had to grind it off with sandpaper to expose balsa for the epoxy to grab. Also, the center section of the stab was a bit too narrow; I cut the covering and left enough so it would be tacked down to the center wood without pulling loose. I cut open the servo holes which allowed me to goop epoxy into the tailcone and ensure a good fix on the stab. Will do a bit more of that tomorrow, then do the hinges on the elevator.

Didn't have a productive weekend on the Velox, but back
on her Monday & Tuesday. Have all of the hinges installed,
tail wheel mounted and this evening re-worked the cowl for
larger air inlets and also made the exhaust outlet for the
Magnum Pitts muffler exhaust extensions. Looks like the
Magnum 52 will fit without a large hole to cut for the head
to stick out, only need a smaller hole for the glow connector.

How you coming along on yours "Cpt. C"

Was trying out the engine mount that came with the plane
don't like the looks of it will order a GP 40-70 adjustable mount,
need to give the 52 a good solid footing.

Bill,

Got one wing done, with servo installed and control horn bolted in. Screws provided for horns are a tad short; I flipped the nylon plate over and ran the screw into the little protrusions. It all pulled down into place neatly and seems plenty strong. I used Du-Bro EZ connector, metal rod, and Sullivan metal clevis instead of provided hardware.

Took a piece of 1/32" ply and cut out the rectangle for the
engine pedestal, covered with white monokote on bottom
blue on top and epoxied it to firewall to cover the 1" & 1/2"
lightening holes keeping fuel out of the interior, will post pics
of the engine mounting and firewall this weekend, getting close
to the maiden, shooting for the end of October weekend.
I have 2 ARF assemblies going at once, 4-Star looking copy
called a "Stylus 60" should maiden it same weekend.

Bill D.

Got the firewall seal up used 1/32nd ply covered with monkote and expoxied
in place to seaL up all holes. Mounted engine last evening and found that
the alignment marks on engine pedestal are off a tad bit and the engine
drive plate is sitting low in the opening in the cowl, will correct with a wedge
and post more pics when done.

Finished installing all servos. There was no guidance as to how to install and set up the servos in the tailcone, but it went together easily. Will work on finishing the canopy and doing the engine installation today.

Got the engine installation roughed out. Drilled the firewall and engine mount and assembled everything to check alignment. Once everything's good, will box up firewall and mount with plywood and seal with dope.

looking good guys, I also have a velox 58. want to start build this winter was thinking of going elec. have 1000 watt brushless. but also have 2 .46 nitro engines still undecided. will be watching the rest of your builds

Hey Guys i just got this VELOX off of Ebay it should be here tomorrow I am going to start building it This weekend This will be my First Plane to Build Icant wait tryin to decide what motor to buy and put in it

I hope you have some time on a low wing aileron trainer, if not you
have probably bitten off more than you can chew on this one, hopefully
not as it goes exactly where you point it.

Bill D.

So close... Had to send the TH .46 back to hobby services; it has a bum bearing, so no finalizing on the engine install. bbrown2828, I have to agree with Bill; this is NOT something to fly for the first time. This little monster will eat you alive if you don't have at least some low wing aircraft time. A buddy of mine reported seeing a review on the Velox 58 in RC Aeromodeller: they gave it high marks as an excellent flyer.

I have a high wing trainer Right now and going to start on a buddys low wing trainer soon.... I just bought it because it was cheap... just going to build it no plans to fly it anytime soon</p>

I am also having problems getin the Elevator to Fit through the main body on the  plain looks like i will have to sand it about 3/16 of a inch to get the clearance also I do not beleive that my kit came with any hinges for the wings did yalls

Yes I did have to make a notch in the tail post for the stab to fit in place. The hinges have probably either slid too far back into the aileron
or wing as on shaking my wing I did here a couple rattling inside. One way to see if they have slid back into the slots is to take your hobby
knife and slide it into the very edge of one of the slots and slowly push it down and then move it diagonaly across the slot to see if the hinge
is in the slot, if it is, have a t-pin or dressmakers pin handy to sick it with as it emerges from the slot. If no hinge is there then it's off to the
nearest hobby shop to buy some Dubro or Sig CA hinges.

Have you tried to insert the wing tube through the fuselage as of yet? Mine was so tight it wouldn't go, so I had to sand it down with some
coarse emery cloth then polish it with a finner grit, didn't take me to long but I have a lathe available to speed up the process.

You might read this thread through a couple times to see what mods I have done to my Velox, as you will have to do simular mods to yours
as well for longivity of the aircraft, like seal all of the holes in the firewall so that fuel can't get blown back into the radio compartment.

Good luck and take your time, it will be worth the extra effort. BTW I haven't had the opportunity to maiden mine as of yet, this lousy
weather has made our flying field un-useable till probably some time in late January or early February, so it is hanging in the shop ready
to go when the occassion arrives to get out to fly.

Bill D.

Bill D.