ORIGINAL: cmoulder

I'm really enjoying the Focus Sport with a YS 1.10, having lost my Venus II w/OS 1.20 FS-E (non-pumped) in a mid-air last June.

It's not really a fair comparison because the OS had lots less giddy-up than the YS, but overall I'd have to give the advantage to the Focus Sport because it flies more crisply and precisely. Rolls stop quickly, snap rolls don't ''wallow'' like they did with the Venus II, and the Focus Sport tracks much better in tight-radius pulling and pushing maneuvers such as shark's tooth and square loops. On those same kinds of maneuvers, the Venus II would kind of mush a bit before the stab would come around.

That said, the Venus II was MUCH easier to assemble because it had none of the quality-control problems the Focus Sport has. With the Focus Sport you had better know how to build, because there are lots of things - mostly small and annoying but some big problems, such as the crooked wing tube - that will require substantial building skills to correct. When reading through Troy Newman's build thread I wondered why he seemed to put such heroic effort into assembling an ARF, and having done it I now know why.

But if you hang in there and work your way through the issues, you will be rewarded with a very nice flying model.