I think the 120AX does pretty good on fuel and runs great on 10%.

I would say that if you're worried about a fragile airframe, go with the Venus. Let that tank take the abuse until you can smooth things out.

There is a pretty big difference in design between a Venus and professionally designed pattern plane. I just got a SebArt plane and while it's similar in size (and color) the quality and design is totally different. The Focus is more like a modern pattern plane, the Venus is a sport plane with little dihedral, tall fuse, and a long tail moment.

Shipping companies charge you for shipping large parcels. $50 is high in comparison to Tower, but low in comparison to what you or I would pay to ship it. Piedmont or Central sell much less volume than Tower so they don't get the shipping deals. Not their fault.

Tower's deals are hard to beat, but after flying the Venus for a year I've moved to a point where their products don't have much interest to me anymore.