GP Venus 40
 

I'll have to wait till this weekend to fly the Venus 40 that I've just finished. As it stands now it seems to me that Great Planes has another winner here. I do have some questions...

1. The elevator and rudder are double beveled... Why? Will this plane 3D? :rolleyes:

2. Control throws seem awful small... Elevator... low 1/4 up high 7/16 up?


Now the things I was impressed with.

1. The first ARF that I didn't pin the landing gear or the firewall because on close inspection there seemed to be plenty glue.

2. The finished weight is advertised to be between 4.8# and 5.2#... My digital fish scale showed 5.0# COOL! :D

3. Supposed to balance at 4 5/8 on a GP CG Machine... This blew me away... I've never had a plane balance perfectly with no moving components around or adding weight. I just stood there dumbfounded staring at it balance perfect. :D

I built this by the manual. OS 46FX and Futuba 3004 servos. I've been impressed by Great Planes ARFs in the past as I am now.
I've also built H9 Ultra Sticks and the Edge 540 and was also pleased by them though I did feel I had to pin the landing gear and firewall and am glad I did. I may wish I had done so with this Venus 40. We'll see. :p

Any comments, advice, or experience would be appreciated.
Jimbo

GP Venus 40
 

You're right - you've found a winner! I'm amazed by what GP has done with this one, especially for the price. I take this plane to the field every time now. :) Mine is powered with an OS 50SX and 11-7 APC. Enough power for anything!

Control throws for the Elevator will do... but I pretty much leave mine on hi-rate all the time with a slight (10%) amount of negative Expo (Futaba). I bet you'll want to kick up the aileron throw as I did mine. I don't have the measurements but I did increase them a bit.

I did add 0.5 oz of lead on the tail (underside of stab).

The plane does do very nice spins and snaps (pretty avalanches).
Haven't weighed mine but it seems to be as light or lighter than my Flip 3D with the same engine.

Best of luck,
Scott

GP Venus 40
 

My Venus, with its OS 61FX has become my favourite plane.

It also balanced perfectly first time! I put the rudder servo in a hole under the tail, with pull-pull 2.56 rods.

I reckon too much elevator will make it snap when you don't want it to, but I agree exceeding the aileron throws is a good idea.

-David C.

Yep
 

Mine is a lot of fun to horse around with, especially in the knife edge. I did a review of this kit last year, at http://homepage.mac.com/mikejames/rc...us40arf01.html

Still flying it, with no changes and no problems.

Hey Mike....
 

Nice write up....

Pugs

Please no slow speed snaps!
 

Mike James... Very nice website! I read your write up before I started my Venus... Nice pictures and good info... Thanks!

Mike Bogh... Thanks for the warning... I'll definitely check this out
at altitude... :cry:

I'm sure I'll increase the aileron throws on high rate
This plane is replacing my Sig SE (RIP) as my everyday flyer and precision aerobatic trainer... :p

GP Venus 40
 

Great write up Mike, glad to find this post about the Venus 40. My father in law is about ready to fly his. Will have to get him to read this first. It sure is a nice looking plane. :)