Joe, If you feel you are ready to fly a Venus II then have a go at it. If you plan to continue in competition pattern
it's YS or OS, or you can go electric. I look forward to Meeting you next weekend at Jackson.
Chris.

Guys, please don't jump on the young man, I love following his posts, here and in IMAC, Q&A, pattern, anyplace I run into his posts. My point to him is he has no background to draw on to advise others and has nothing to compare anything to so maybe he should slow down just A tad?? Just this season I got to break in and tune my first AX .55 and was very impressed with it. I have the FX, SF, FP, LAs onandonandon to compare it to though, A nice little engine. I have tuned the 1.20AX also and liked it too, I did find the 1.30 SK was smoother and maybe A bit more user friendly but I had something to compare it to at least.
I just can't wait to hear all the wonderful tails of this new fire breather and the next pattern contest. Myself, well, I just came in from my shop, been setting up A nice little 86 inch Decathlon I picked up.
Sure hope I don't run into the problems Joe did with his but I have an incidence meter handy and it came with the instructions.

This is fun

Let me first start by saying the VII with a 120AX is a total blast to fly. Unfortunately for some of you I have no events to report, just some wonderful flying of circuits and some basic pattern maneuvers (letting engine break in before I really fly my pattern routine). I also thanked my instructor for spotting my on my maiden flight as the sky was really crowded. His response was "Glad I could help - it's good to see you flying a plane that is up to your skills." This is coming from a long-time club instructor with tons of experience, planes, and a landing strip in his back yard.

Next I would like to point out that the VII is rated as an intermediate plane, not intermediate-advanced like the Decathlon was. I crashed the Decathlon because I was not patient, and because I improperly ran some of the plumbing and got frustrated with the lack of power and agility. The plane survived and I learned how to fly it well. I've been flying the wings off my Dolphin, nearly a half gallon a day. I try all kinds of stuff, practice getting into all kinds of nasty positions and recovering. edit I don't need to prove to you I'm ready for this plane, I know I'm ready for it and that's what matters.

Also in 10 or 12 flights I have not yet had a prop strike, just a bunch of great landings, even in some pretty decent gusts. I think the 3 props I have will last me quite a while.

I would like to point out that the point of this thread was just to show my appreciation for a wonderful line of engines. The only issue(s) I've had were due to improper plumbing, and once that was fixed the engine ran perfectly. Everyone knows the saying 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it,' and my saying that I am hooked on OS engines is very similar - my experience with the engines themselves has been wonderful. They are reliable, easy to tune, powerful, sound great, and easy to get parts/service for. If they are working for me I see no need to try something else.

I do offer advice on this forum, and I am honestly trying to help. I share my experience, what worked for me, what didn't work for me, and what I have seen, heard, and learned. I try my very best to state clearly that "this happened to me..." or "I saw this happen..." Maybe I can try to keep it more to my own personal, first-hand experience.

As for slowing down, well...I'm flying the VII at like half throttle, advancing to 3/4 for climbs, and down to idle coming through dives. I fly with altitude, caution, and grace. I have not taken any chances, and I land when I don't feel 100% confident. I've learned some lessons the hard way, but I've certainly learned a lot.

Thanks for reading. I find it humorous that I really have no life and am sitting at my computer defending my purchase of a flying toy[&:]

Its funny that everyone is giving you a hard time just like most of them did in my "looking for good third plane" thread. Glad to hear everything is going good with the new plane and hope to take it slow before getting into some hairy maneuvers. Its like everyone here who isn't a beginner is so worried that we are taking it too fast, which I can understand being that this is a beginners forum(DUH!!) But for all of you veterans(or wanna be veterans), a few of us "beginners" are stubborn and just have to learn the hard way.

Let me go back to the original post... then I will drop this subject like last week's news.

Enough said.

That's it for me

Well CG Let's have breakfast while we mull over this thread. Sourdough toast, Sugar cured Virigina Ham grilled well, Southern omlet with crispy hash browns and of course some Starbuck coffee. Join me.

Morning, Irish.

I did it lite this morning.. oatmeal. Still battling a bit of an intestinal flu.

CGr.

I wouldn't go quite that far. After all, I have to fly with the guy.

Have fun with the Venus gaRCfield, but take it easy for a while. Don't go trying figure M's with quarter rolls or anything.

Don't listen to Nathan, gaRCfield! He just doesn't want to run into you at a pattern contest next season and have you embarrass him.

Thanks Nate

Ed, I'm sure I'll be seeing Nate at Nats within the next couple of years, so we'll see what happens[>:]

You'll be fine with the plane if you pratice patience. I went from the nexstar to the cosmic minnow. I started with running the minnow up and down the field with me behind it to see how it was going to track. Then I took off and did a couple circuits to make sure it was running up to par. Then when high enough make sure it could handle vertical climbs and dives to make sure it would not quit on me. From there I went with the touch and goes. Over and over again. Nothing fancy. My last flights with the minnow were after our warbirds event. I ran through 3 tanks and was strickly doing touch and goes with the whole last tank. I would take the plane to a spot and chop the throttle at varying altitudes and areas over the field and try to get it back to the runway under idle. Did close to 30 straight back and forth with no aborts. Unfortunately it was nearing dusk with some clouds and while trying to finish the last tank lost orientation when it dipped into the tree line. When I finally realised where it was going I just kept the wings level and let it go in. The damage wasnt that bad but enough to where I dont feel like fixing it. I was mad I made such a stupid mistake. So just take your time and control your adrenaline. It will come in time....

Now Im just trying to get this sundowner 50 finished up with the ol 91 surpass. Then my new minnow is getting a YS110 cant wait for that.

Good for you garfield. It sounds you are learning quickly and are willing to do it the hard way as long you can learn quickly. Just be safe.

I'm still on a trainer a year after a solo flight. I don't get to fly much though. I still fly a sig sr kadet but have about five planes built and ready to go after "trainer graduation". I guess I build better than I fly.

About 12 flights or so...

120AX continues to start on one flip, GOBS of low end power. Just switched from a 15x10 to a 15x8 and acceleration is like instantaneous! Amazing engine. Plane is flying great

Just take it slow and easy. Heed some of the advice of before.. biggest thing, believe it or not, is to learn to fly straight and level with minimal input. Don't try to push that envelope until you are very confident of your straight lines. That's very important in pattern.

Many of us have been critical, and that's for a reason. We just don't want to see you get discouraged again, and the quickest way to get that way again is to destroy tht Venus. I have one and love it. But I really respect it's capabilities. It can fly much much better than I can fly it, for sure.

CGr.

Thanks CG. Right now just spending time flying around and getting used to its characteristics. Today I plan on some trimming drills and working on slow flight/stall characteristics. Of course there's some basic Sportsmans pattern moves mixed in there, too

It's a great plane/match for me

It's nice to know where a plane stalls and how it behaves "just in case" but the best thing is to never get it so slow that it stalls in the first place.

Well almost had disaster yesterday - fuel pump gave out. I landed the plane due to lack of smoke in the air, and found DARK greay -> black residue on the bottom of the plane. Of course I pulled the pump and didn't fly again, new one will be here tomorrow.

The top of the piston is cola-colered; no scratches or discoloration below the ring or on the liner. Thank goodness for a ringed engine AND CASTOR oil!

Beyond that the 120 AX is purring like a beast and lugging the 9lb plane through loops like it doesn't even know it's happening

Other than that the plane and engine has me TOTALLY SPOILED! I flew the Dolphin today because of the bad pump, and YUCK! If I didn't still have payments to make on the new plane and engine I'd be buying a Venus 40 right now.

Joe,
It looks like saturday may be Hanna's day, Jackson forecast is calling for heavy rain and 35+MPH winds.

[:@]

Is there a way to find out if the event gets called off? I was planning on making the drive regardless of weather, but if it's going to be that bad...

Hey here's a link to the 120AX towing around my plane!!! Thanks Jim!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLAsbxQLeiE

Well, nice to meet you gaRCfield. I always wonder how everyone here looks like and how old are they.

Joe,
I will update you if I find anything out before friday, I am about a half an hour from the field. I am hoping this weather turns away
from us, as I am looking forward to this contest it is my last contest competing in sportsman, and the FocusII is retiring to backup
and practice duty.

weather.com shows a nice day on Sunday, says wind and partial rain on Saturday. Definitely let me know, even if it's just a competition on Sunday I'll come down.

Hey GaRCfield, I liked you a whole lot better before I knew what you looked like, lol, just kidding. Thats a really nice flying field, I went and checked out the local clubs field this past weekend and its not as nice. The grass is just now filling in but it has a lot of weed too. But that was a cool video, and hopefully one day soon I can post one of my own.

Yes, it was a nice field. I was visiting myself, only been there that weekend. My field is nice too though