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Venus II

Old 03-05-2006, 08:12 AM
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ekir
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Default Venus II

I am looking for an ARF that I could do lower class pattern flying, plus a sport plane that will track well. I am looking to put something that would use something like an OS 120 4-stroke.

Do you think the Venus II will be a good choice? If not, any ideas will be appreciated

Thanks,

Ed
Old 03-05-2006, 08:26 AM
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vbortone
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Default RE: Venus II

Check the last Model Aviation Magazine (March 2006). The article by Eric Henderson on page 97 could very useful for you. If you have more question Eric e-mail is listed in the article. I am sure he can give you more details and options.

Good luck,

Vicente Bortone
Old 03-05-2006, 08:53 AM
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marmitas
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Default RE: Venus II

I am in the process of building (assembling) a Venus II for the same purpose that you mention. So far these are my observations:

[ul][*] Excellent instructions.[*]All the parts are laser cut and the fit is perfect they did a great job gluing the joints.[*]Very neat covering all the edges sealed very well. They use standard MonoKote.[*]Unlike many ARFs this plane comes with high quality american hardware I did not have to replace anything.[*]All the control surfaces were pre-sloted so doing the hinges was very fast and accurate.
[/ul]
I'm taking photos as I go and may do a build thread.
Old 03-05-2006, 10:07 AM
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CGRetired
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Default RE: Venus II

Our LHS just got one in last week. I put a down payment on it and will pick it up in the next couple of weeks. I had a Venus 40 and loved it. Unfortunately, however, I had an unexpected surface impact with it during take off.. was strange.. added throttle, rear wheel came off the ground, I added elevator but there was a pretty good crosswind. I over-reacted, went inverted, hit the ground pretty hard. Interestingly enough the wing was untouched but the fuse was broken up in just about every conceivable place.. split in half just aft of the engine.

I have an Excelleron 90 that I like a lot but have had some issues with the engine. I intend to use that engine on the Venus II because I can mount it upright rather than upside down, then put a Magnum 1.20 on the Excelleron.. maybe... not sure yet. I will have to see if the latest fix works on the enigne performance.

Anyway, my reason for choosing the Venus II is based on my experience with how the Venus 40 performed. 'Great Plane'.

DS
Old 03-05-2006, 02:38 PM
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RobertC
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Default RE: Venus II

I also have a "soft spot" for the Venus (it was my very first ARF!) so I just had to pick-up it's bigger brother. For those of you interested, here are the weights of my kit:

Fuselage, Cowl, Canopy, and tail-feathers: 2lbs 3.6oz
Hardware (tank, engine-mount, spinner, pushrods, nuts and bolts, etc.): 12.2oz <note: all pieces still in plastic bags>
Wheel Pants: 2.3 oz <note: still in plastic bag>
Wing (both halves, including ailerons): 24.4oz

Total: ~5lbs

As noted above, all the "main" pieces (fuse, wing, tail) were taken out of the plastic bags; all hardware was still in the bags so-- even with the extra weight of glue-- it should still come out a few ounces less than this total.

I have a YS .91FZ that needs a home (and it is a real stump-puller!). Should be able to keep the RTF weight under 9lbs so it should do fine in this airframe.
Old 03-10-2006, 10:05 PM
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LarryC
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Default RE: Venus II

I'm just getting started on my Venus 2.

I have the wing halves joined; nothing special to say there. I had to sand the joiner just a tad to get a good fit, but after that it went together straight. The ply section of the joiner isn't too thick, with most of the joiner made of balsa. I'll probably glass the center section just for good measure.

The fuse is just wide enough to make the engine mounting a little difficult. In order to use a stock muffler, you have to angle the engine so that it requires a large cutout in the side of the cowling. The engine mounts far enough forward that I think I will use a header and try to get the muffler mounted in the air outlet area in the sloped lower front of the fuselage. Has any one else come up with a better solution for this? I really don't want to have the engine hanging out the of the side of the cowling.

Unless I have a change of plan, I'll be using a YS-110 on a Hyde mount.

Larry
Old 03-10-2006, 10:46 PM
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jetmech43
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Default RE: Venus II

hey Larry good to see you are doing a Venus, seems like a nice plane, I just got a deal on a Focus, that im trying to finish
Old 03-11-2006, 01:21 PM
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RobertC
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Default RE: Venus II

I haven't actually mounted my YS .91 yet (will do it today sometime) but it looked to me like you could mount the engine inverted at a *slight* angle (not enough that it protrudes from the side of the cowl at all) and have the muffler still pointing out the bottom of the plane. Granted, it is on one side of the bottom (not directly in the nice little tunnel that GP designed into this plane) but it should keep from needing to cut the cowling at all for either the cylinder or the muffler-- other than the usual opening on the bottom. I really want to keep the cowl attachment/removal from needing to remove the muffler every time!

I agree that the build so far has been pretty uneventful. I can say that I like the "pre-cut" CA hinges (as opposed to needing to cut them from a sheet myself... yeah, I know, I'm lazy! )
Old 03-12-2006, 01:27 PM
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palomar 81
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Default RE: Venus II

I just measured the weight of all of the parts contained in the box :
All of the main parts including the fus.with the canopy, wing, and the tail feathers came to 61oz. The balance of parts including the control rods came to 34.6oz. This comes to a tidy 6lbs if you round off the 4oz.
I glassed the center section of the wing because I thought the center attachment block looked too light to suit my taste.
Be sure to releave the center of the two small bulkheads in the belly pan to clear the slight diheral in the bottom of the wing (and the added glass).
I had some small problems with the paper tubes in the belly pan but I am not complaining.
May the weeds in our garden turn out to be wild flowers.
Old 03-12-2006, 01:51 PM
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RobertC
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Default RE: Venus II

Not sure how yours ended-up almost one pound more than mine-- did you weigh everything while still in the plastic bags? I am pretty confident that I can keep mine under 8lbs (having weighed my engine and electronics).

I did get the YS mounted last night and, well, I was partially right. I can mount the engine so that the cylinder does not protrude from the side of the cowl and the muffler still exits on the bottom. However, because of the curved shape of the lower front of the cowl, the cylinder-head will hit this area (and require cutting). It shouldn't be too bad, and again my goal was just to make attachment/removal of the cowl painless-- not avoid cutting holes in it. Anyway, I'll post some pictures when I get the cowling trimmed correctly.

One other note for those currently assembling the plane... if you are mounting your servos in the rear take advantage of the fact that the servo-cutouts are close to the horizontal stab. You should be able to position the stab and then glue it via these cutouts (CA would be real easy, epoxy would require a bit more work). Makes installation very clean and you can avoid excess glue.
Old 03-19-2006, 01:30 PM
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rcstavros
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Default RE: Venus II

Hello everyone,
as I am trying to decide which plane will be best for my YS110 (F3A use) I have the dilemma between Venus II and Excelleron 90.
I know for sure that the Excelleron is a very capable F3A plane but the quality of the covering and hardware is not very good.
On the other hand the flying abilities of the Venus II are not known but I think that the quality of the kit is better.
As the two planes cost about the same here (and also the decoration is similar) and of the same size which one would you choose ?
Any thoughts on this CGRetired ?
TIA
Stavros Ioannidis
Old 04-03-2006, 07:40 AM
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flymeaway
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Default RE: Venus II

Anyone get a chance to fly this bird yet? I've put this on my list which is down to: Venus II, Excelleron 90, or Epsilon 60. I will be running a ST G90 for power. Any input on which plane would perform better with this engine would be appreciated. I've never flown pattern so ultimate performance isn't a key consideration for me at this point - just a decent true plane to learn sportsman on.
Old 04-03-2006, 08:06 AM
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patternrules
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Default RE: Venus II

I had the Epsilon (7 1/2 LB) with a OS 91 and it flew great, I did build the kit. Most ARF's are to heavy for any real performance with a 90, a friend had the Excelleron with a Thunder Tiger 120 and done fine but weight was more like 8 1/2 lb which is about right for most ARF's.
The Epsilon is a 60/90 don't really like this lable as all are 90 size, and most need a 120 to really fly them with good power, go by weight and size.
60 engine = 6 1/2 LB max
90 engine = 7 1/2 LB max
120 engine 9 1/2 LB max
Steve Maxwell
Old 04-03-2006, 08:12 AM
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flymeaway
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Default RE: Venus II

Steve - that's exactly why I'm worried about the ARFs (Venus/Excelleron) being too heavy for the G90. I don't have any problem with building, in fact I'd rather build. It's just that winter building season is almost over. I wouldn't think an 8.5# plane would perform all that well with a 90 2C without pipe.
Old 04-03-2006, 08:33 AM
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patternrules
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Default RE: Venus II

Don't get me wrong the 90 will fly them you'll just be wanting more power, to hard to pull a good loop without good power.
The best thing would be to sell the 90 and get the Webra 120 which is an awesome engine once set then just fly, we have 2 of these in our club that run perfect and have the power needed, one is pumped the other isn't and they run the same.
[link]http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=WEBE919[/link]
Steve
Old 04-03-2006, 08:52 AM
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tommy s
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Default RE: Venus II

I haven't seen the new Venus yet but I have an Excelleron 90 and I don't beleive
you'll be happy with a 90 on this airplane. It's not only a weight issue, (the ready
to fly weight is only 8 lbs) , but this is a large airplane and it needs some power. I
flew mine with a YS 1.10 and it definitely was not overpowered.

tommy s
Old 04-03-2006, 09:01 AM
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flymeaway
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Default RE: Venus II

Thanks guys, seems that the 90 would be better suited to a lighter airframe.

For those that have the Venus II - what is the wingspan? GP website says 66", and Tower says 69.5"...??
Old 04-03-2006, 10:07 AM
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Default RE: Venus II

Hmmmm............ I have an Excelleron with a YS 110 using 30% heli fuel and it will go straight up until I cannot see it any more and will hover pretty easily so I don't feel short on power. My YS 91 used 1 inch less prop diameter and flew well but the 110 is definitely better.
Gordie
Old 04-04-2006, 11:04 AM
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RobertC
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Default RE: Venus II

I just finished-up my Venus II over the weekend. A few minor things left to do but I am extremely impressed with how quick the kit went together-- even for somebody like me who second-guesses everything in the manual!

Dry weight is just over 7.5lbs. This is with a YS-91FZ in the nose and using all "stock" items from the kit (including the spinner). JR 811's on aileron/elevator (4 total), Hitec 5625 on rudder and HS-81 on throttle.

Oh, the wingspan of the plane is just a hair over 66 inches.
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Old 04-05-2006, 06:34 AM
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GM1
 
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Default RE: Venus II

Excellent. I was looking at this combo as I have a 91FZ just sitting arround in a box. Let us know about the flight characteristics.
Gordie
Old 04-06-2006, 04:46 PM
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Jack Skip
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Default RE: Venus II

Looks like a nice plane. Just wondering what the flight range is on this plane. Given the weight, I suppose 3D will be out of the envolope.

What can it do?

Any videos? I would love to see it flying pattern and then freestyle.
Old 04-09-2006, 06:13 PM
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Ken Bryant
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Default RE: Venus II

How are the elevator halves tied together on this plane?
Old 04-09-2006, 06:34 PM
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Default RE: Venus II

Stavros

Sorry it took so long to reply. Basically, I really love my Excelleron. I changed engines from the EVO 100 to an OS 1.20 AX which turned out to be an excellent choice of engines. The excelleron flys just great. I did note the covering needed some care, ironing where bubbles appeared, however, it was somewhat minor and it came out good. One item, the tail wheel. There is a small section of balsa that gets glued on directly in front of the rudder on the bottom of the fuselage. The tail wheel goes on there and uses part of the tail wheel torque arm that gets glued into the rudder for motion. Mine did not last very long. I ended up epoxing the balsa part back on making it much stronger, then used a Sullivan type tail wheel with the larger of the two springs. Much better and seems to be handling my landings well.

Regarding the Venus II, though, I have one on 'lay away' at my local hobby shop mainly because I really loved my Venus 40 and enjoy flying this 90 size pattern model. I will have the Venus in a couple weeks and will take advantage of the info found in this thread for building mine and some improvements that I will incorporate during the build. And, probably will go with another OS 1.20.

So, the Excelleron 90 performs very well. As far as the quality of parts, well, I used most of what came with the model, but did not use the metal hinges and ended up swapping out the tail wheel assembly.

DS.
Old 04-09-2006, 09:08 PM
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Don M.
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Default RE: Venus II


ORIGINAL: Ken Bryant

How are the elevator halves tied together on this plane?

They are seperate identities. Go to the Towers or GP web site and download the manual. It shows everything.
Old 04-10-2006, 11:16 AM
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randy10926
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Default RE: Venus II

I just test flewmy Venus 2 with an OS120AX. Very nice plane and engine combination. The OS120AX is a very impressive engine. I am thinking of trying it on a 2 meter plane.

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