My Venus 2 arrived last evening, hoping to get some weights together in the next day or so. I'm planning to use 6 series Ramtech lithium cells ( 4400 mah ) and a Ramtech outrunner and 17 X 8 prop. This is going to be a semi budget model, just to see if I can be close to the cost of a fuel powered model to do the same job.....
I tried it with the little Venus last winter, and came out very close cost wise to a fuel powered version. Hopefully this one will work out too..
So Far the cost is as follows.....Model...300.00 Cdn. servos HS225BB on ailerons and elevator......
19.98 each...Hitec digital on Rudder. 54.00 Cdn. Motor speed controller and batteries are next in line, and it looks like about 450 for batteries ( 3 sets) and 250 for motor and speed controller. that works out to about 660 dollars Cdn. not including batteries ( fuel). I don't count the batteries since most fuel fliers don't really count fuel in their model cost. I just consider the batteries as 2 or three years supply of fuel all at once. This could be somewhat skewed, as I'm not really sure how much fuel I would burn in a season....I fly almost every day at least 2 flights usually three....and that's pretty much 12 months of the year here on the west coast....This model is intended to be used for sportsman /intermediate flying...
The little guy with about the same power to weight ratio is more than enough for this, but I wanted a little larger model. ( eyes ain't as good as they used to be)

i saw one of these fly at our electric fly-in my club had. it was AWESOME!!!!! he was run a hacker outrunner i think it was either the larger A50 outrunner or the smaller A60 outrunner. i spoke to him for while and he said he had just got it goin and had test flew it with 8 cel li-po and could tell had way too much power so he flys it with 7 cell!!! said he runs a 4 and 3 cel serieed together. it flew super smooth and had lots of power. he said he used the new outrunner casue it's a power motor and it's low cost compared to other motors of that power. not sure what esc he was using, i think a new castle HV. I know i have a Hacker A30-8XL with a cc45HV in my heli and it's tons of power and tourque!!!! check the hacker outrunner out if you still lookin for a motor.

mikey

I've been flying the Venus II (glow version) for about 3 weeks now and it's a great airplane! I'm interested in the electric version, I might convert mine or just get another one. The plane should be awsome as an electric, it's nice and light and bigger than it's little brother so it will be easier to fit gear. I'll be interested to see how you do your install. When you did your little Venus, did you cut in any openings for battery cooling?

Dennis

Dennis...I cut a hole into the top portion of the firewall so that airflow from the cowl goes over the battery, and then I cut a cooling air exit behind the canopy on the bottom of the fuselage. For battery installation, I cut a small hatch between the cowl and the front of the canopy. this makes battery changes fast and easy to do.
Re the venus 2....I don't know what happened, but the fellow who covered my model must have been hung over or something when he did it...I have spent over 3 hours trying to get all the wrinkles out of it so far....almost 2 hours on the fuselage alone.....it's almost to the point where it's easier to remove the covering and start from scratch...it must be just this model, because I have never seen one this poorly covered before...my little Venus was far superior to this one in the covering department. almost no wrinkles in it. Once the covering is straightened out, I will get weights together.
Ailerons were both slightly twisted, so I spent a little time straightening them out...This though, I have found to be a common occurrence with inexpensive ARF models, so I expected as much before I bought the model, and they are easy to straighten....I am contemplating the front hatch method for batteries again, but will need to install the motor and gear first so that I can check the balance point, but this looks like a good option. as it gives lots of room to slide the pack fore and aft to adjust the CG. I was very surprised at how far rearward the batteries had to go on the little Venus, and am pretty sure this is going to be roughly the same. other than the covering, it looks fairly well done.....so far.

last night I fabricated a motor mount for the model, and installed it. motor is in place, and looks to be able to swing a 17X8 prop at 7450 RPM at an estimated 41 amps on 8s lithiums. ( according to the calculation program I am using).
The little Venus turns it's smaller prop at the same RPM, so maybe this will work out. Projected in flight thrust is roughly a pound more than the total projected weight of the model.

Hello All

Could one of you all tell me if I can use the pattern included in the manual to get the correct alignment for a Saito 125? I plan on using the stock mount also.

Thanks

finally got the model finished up late last night...power60 outrunner ....6S lithiums....16X10 APC electric prop...5 cell 1400 mah receiver battery...total all up weight is 8lbs.1oz.
will do the volts/amps/rpm thing this evening just before test frights....if the weather/job/wife all co-operate that is :-) I put the rudder and elevator servos in the rear of the fuselage...two servos on elevators, and had absolutely no problems with getting the CG at the factory suggested spot....there's lots of room to move batteries either fore or aft for fine adjustments. Batteries are permanently mounted on a small piece of 3/32 aircraft ply....this whole assembly slides into a keyed mount in the model. This way I can move the batteries back and forth on the plywood plate for adjustments to CG...the plate goes into the mount in exactly the same place every time, so that you don't have to worry about getting them in exactly the right place every time you install them.

I had a few minutes this morning early, and did the old volts amps check.....
23 volts......55 amps= 1265 watts 8 lb plane....12 1/4 pounds of thrust measured on my digital scale.....after a few final prefilght checks, I can finally try it in the air.

Flew the Venus 2 this afternoon....3 flights. Never HAD to use full throttle at any time, but of course I did on the straight up stuff ( just to see what happened)...from level flight if you point it 90 degrees up and apply throttle, it will accelerate......As the people at Rolls Royce say, ( power is adequate ).... Stall turns are when you decide to back off on the throttle, not when you run out of power. It flies so very much better than my smaller Venus, that I think the little guy is on the way out the door, and a second ( spare) V2 is in order.

I may try a couple of different props just to make sure I have what I consider the best for me on there, but other than that " this puppy hunts"
Needless to say, I am a very happy camper.

Venus 2 has a bunch more flights on it now, and I REALLY do like it.
No more than 70 to 75% throttle needed in any vertical...it would easily hover if you wished it to.
KE flight is almost hands off....inverted portion of 1/2 reverse cuban 8 needs absolutely no down elevator to hold a straight line...after 8 min of flight, I pointed it up and at about 70% throttle, it went straight up 90 degrees till I decided it was too small to keep going. motor at the end of the flight was imperceptably warmer than ambient, and batteries were under 100 degrees F....you want to see something funny??? about ten guys lined up waiting their turns to poke a finger through the hole in the cowl to feel the motor temp :-) I have an acquaintance with a venus 2 using a 91 two stroke for power....mine has much more authority than his..those are his words after trying it. This has turned out to be a great model/power combination for me, and I'm looking forward to lots of flights with it. Just have to be mindful that it's REALLY FLOATY on landings, start a little high, or a little fast, and you WILL be going around for another try.

Venus 2 was in it's first contest this last weekend. It wasn't perfectly trimmed, but good enuff to start with.
Flew fine...power was NOT an issue it has way more than needed.