Russmall, for only your second contest you did great.
My Venus II should be ready pretty soon. I hope to start competing by October.

Diver,
Thanks, I was pretty nervous but I really like the adrenalin rush that comes with flying in a contest. I never realized just how difficult pattern flying was until I actually tried it. In the past, I just bored holes in the sky and did some 3D stuff. Now, I think I'm hooked on the pattern thing. Good luck on your Venus II and I hope you get to compete with it real soon..........RS

OS 91FX 15% Fuel 86Deg 72% Humidity 0-5mph winds

15 X 8 8,060 rpm's
14 X 8 8,960 rpm's
14 X 10 8, 100 rpm's

All props flew great and were able to slow down for landing. Verticle wasn't great on any, but was enough.

Thanks.....

I now have about 15 flights on it and the only thing I don't care for is the bouncy landing gear. Anyone else have a problem with too much flex in the mains. I have yet to get it to touch down and not bounce. I know, practice, practice, practice. I'm thinking of adding a cable or wire in between the mains to stiffen it up some. Any comments?

Thanks........

Russell,
I too have been having problems with bouncing on landing but I really don't think it's a problem with the landing gear. I think it's just a matter of not bleeding off enough airspeed before touch down. Landing is one of the main things I plan to work on before my next contest. Glad to hear that you have yours flying and already have 15 flights on it. Anyway, good luck on those landings and let's both practice, practice, practice.......RS

I have about 150 flights on my Venus II and I think I can say I have NEVER had a bounce on landing, didn't think it was possible on this plane. Actually it lands so smoothly that T & G's are a real fun thing to do when I'm in the mood. I fly from asphalt and have never flown this plane from grass. Maybe that might make a difference. This plane should be landed a bit hot and not too much flare.

I did however have a problem with slowing the sucker down enough to land and if you look back in this thread ( I think ) you'll see where I dialed in a bit of spoilerons in order to slow it down a bit. Maybe this might help your bouncing.

i have also had a problem with bouncing.i did notice that after moving the cog back, it was worst than it was before. maybe i'm coming in to slow? where do yall have cog set at?

This model has a pretty impressive glide, so you do indeed need to have your engine idle at a minimum and to hold the flare until it has well and truly stalled. Otherwise it will bounce as you describe. Take Don M's suggestion from above and dial in some spoilerons, about 3/4 inch up with the ailerons. You will still have plenty of aileron control and the landings will absolutely stick. My CG is at 6-5/8 inches, just slightly aft of the recommended CG of 6-1/2 inches.

My plane is nose heavy. Maybe that's why I have never had a bounce. It flies absolutely first rate this way so I never had the itch to change it.

Bob is right. When you land with the spoilerons it's like someone reaches out and holds it down on the ground. I'm also used to landing a true pattern ship which requires that you cut the throttle back to 0 out there as far as the eye can see. I tried spoilerons on that ship and they are not as successful as the Venus II

Made a couple flights today practicing on landings. Looking a lot better, was able to grease in a few. Just needs more practice.

thanks guys. will try to do some programing tonight.my cg is at 6 3/4,so that should be ok.i only have about 6 flights on it so i'm sure i need more practice also. i think my kaos had a much better sink rate and also handled the wind better, but it took alot of speed to make it respond.

Once you get used to the Venus, you're going to like it a lot better than the Kaos. Because of the generous side area it needs more rudder in crosswind, for sure, but it also does rock-solid KE with virtually zero coupling, which cannot be said of the Kaos.

hey guys i'm setting up my Venus and have a question...for those who mounted the 2 elevator servos in the tail, are you guys using a y-harness? What about the ailerons? I'm using my DX7 system with the AR 7000 receiver. Thanks

Diver,
I too am using the DX7 & AR 7000 ( Love it). My elevator servos are mounted in the tail and hooked up to two seperate channels. Two channels for the ailerons as well. No need for a Y-Harness..............RS

This is my first time setting up a plane with 2 elevator servos. I'm kinda new to this so I'm guessing for the elevators, 1 of the servos gets plugged into ch.2 and the other AUX 1? and for ailerons they get plugged in to ch.1 and AUX2? Please correct me if i'm wrong.

I have both servo leads plugged into a "Y" harness for the elevators.

can someone help me set up my servos to receiver (AR7000)? I'm running dual elevators and ailerons and no y-harnesses. What channels do i need to use? this is my first time setting up a dual elevator plane....

I can't help you because I fly an older 8103 but don't they cover this in the instruction booklet. I have about as much tech skills as a snake but my 8103 manual guided me through it no problem.

I didn't reply before because I have never used the AR7000 (I use Futaba 9caps), but generally speaking ailerons use Ch1 (right) and Ch6 (left), and dual elevator servos use Ch 2 (right) and one of the Aux channels for the left elevator half. One thing you can do is to use the Smart-Fly Equalizer II (http://www.smart-fly.com/Products/Eq.../equalizer.htm) for the elevator and then plug them both into Ch2 while still having the ability to independently adjust the center, direction and endpoint of each elevator servo.

One of the best things you can possibly do is to sit down with your DX7 owner's manual, find the section on mixing and read it through about 3 times, and then play with your transmitter settings with the model sitting right in front of you. I struggled through the 9caps settings on many occasions, went to the Futaba website and searched the threads and always managed to figure it out somehow. This past weekend at the field I was able to quickly program somebody's 6EX with expo and dual rates and put them all on one switch, and he thought I was some kind of whiz. Nope, I just read the bloody manual! I downloaded the DX6 manual from Spektrum (DX7 wasn't available there yet) and the answer to your question is around pages 50 and 51, so I know it's in the DX7 manual somewhere, because it has more features.

Once you "see the light" it ain't all that hard!!

Diver,
Mike McConville gives step by step instructions on duel channel elevator and aileron hookup for the DX-7 in the following link. I printed this out and keep it with my instruction book. Makes the setup very easy....RS http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5360834/printable.htm

thanks RS that's exactly what i was looking for.

Anyone else experience a rattle while flying theirs? Mainly at half and lower throttle it almost sounds like the clunk in the tank is rattling around, sure that's not it. I tightened up the cowl to fit better and the canopy. Going to try bracing the landing gear and tightening the wheel pants to see if that helps. Just wondering if others seen this and what was the cure.

Thanks..

i have the same concern. i'm running a 120 ax and it is the only thing other than 40s i've had . i thought it was just the big engine so i order a dubro soft mount,but it don't fit on the firewall.

OK, I found the problem I was having with bouncing on landing. It was the fuel

Also, the rattling noise might be the canopy after all. It was doing it in front of me and I put my hand on it and it stopped. I will glue it down this evening....

If I put the O.S. 120 4 stroke on my venus ll, will I need a special motor mount or will I have to do anything to the firewall for it to fit?

I am clueless at this point......arf's on its way.

charlie