majortom-RCU
Posts: 1579
Joined: 12/11/2001 From: Merrimack,
NH, USA Status: offline
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I don't quarrel with the above recommendations. I was and am a major fan of the Venus 40, and have to believe the Venus II can be made to fly as well as its little sister. However, the Venus II's I've seen have been so far not impressive, maybe because of their pilots. One with a 120AX seemed to be powered well, but did not perform especially well in the wind. Another with OS 120 4-stroke seemed lacking in power, therefore lacking in maneuvers. The flyers were people I didn't know well enough to barge in and offer advice to, so I kept my nose out. Piedmont, Focus, Epsilon 120 all good recommendations, but expensive compared to the H9 Showtime. Showtime has no pattern pedigree, but if you're looking for a very reasonable price and capability of winning Intermediate with no problem, Showtime value is hard to beat. I coached a buddy with Showtime/120AX this weekend, just starting to wring out his new plane, new engine. Knife edge with no mixing, steady on both pitch and roll for the length of the field with no right-hand input. Did his first ever axial slow roll, and told me it was the plane that did it, not him. Did the lower class maneuvers with ease and grace. Did a few snaps very creditably, stopped on target no problem. All this without the SFG's, mainly at half-throttle. I have a YS120 which is unemployed at the moment, and have decided to put it to work in a Showtime. I will probably strip it and re-cover, as I do with most ARFs, and dress it in pattern colors. No one will ever know.
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