New to this and the Fly Zone Ventura

[RacerRSX]

About a month ago I got into this hobbie. I always wanted to fly a RC planes and finally decided to give it a try. I went down to the hobbie store and looked at a few planes, a couple of 2 channel Hobbie Zone planes, the Challenger and the Fly Zone Ventura. The Ventura is an electric 3 channel plane that looks like a powered glider. It was (notice I use was) a fun plane and after 5 (I counted) good crashes I figured out how to fly it well. The problem is that in one of those crashes I damaged the wing with a light crease which really did not look bad. I continued to fly the plane like this. Yesterday I was flying the plane and did a fast dive and went to loop and the wing buckled and my plane crashed bad, really bad. The wing is gone, the fusalage is destroyed, prop, motor, wiring a little messed up, and some how the tail got damaged.
There are replacement parts available, which is good.
My question is. Since I am about to spend a lot of money to rebuild my plane, should I do that or look at another plane.
Here are my issues with the Ventura.
- It is hard to get it to fly in a straight line. Even in the intruction video you can see the plane always requires adjustments, even in light wind.
- This plane needs more power. Unless I am over a parking lot that has warm air rising (There is a large parking lot next to the field I fly over), I have to fly at full power to maintain speed and altitude.

Overall, I just find myself wanting more out of the plane.

Has anyone else flown the Ventura? Compared to other electric planes how does it do? If it is the best performance I am going to get out of an intermediate electric plane, then I will rebuild it, but if there others out there that I should consider, then I might take a look.

Thanks

[RacerRSX]

Ok, got no replys, so I stopped by at the Hobby store to look at replacement parts and saw the F-27 Stryker. After talking to the guy about it for a while I bought it.
Wow, it is awesome. I should have bought this first. It is easier to fly than the Ventura, and it is so much more powerfull. On middle throttle it will gain and maintain altitude and it turns on a dime, and I am still using the A mode on the controls which limits the controll surfaces. I can't wait untill I figure it out and switch it it to B mode which gives a full range of motion. A really great plane.
Overall, I really like it. :)

[david roberts]

Hello

Just re registered forgot my password just thought I'd give you some feedback since nobody else can be bothered ! ( it really bugs me when you don't get any feedback especially if you need help) I know its a bit late but better late than never.

I have a Ventura ( actually its a Electrasport its the same plane but marketed and distributed by JP in the UK ) and its a fantastic little flyer I found it to be the total oppisite to what you found. I bought the airframe and put a 400 6v motor in that I had my own servos and receiver and ESC and stuck a 8 cell battery pack in...flew fantastic. A couple of weeks later I dropped a little brushless outrunner in there and 3s 1300 mah Lippo and its ballistic..if you think the Stryker is fast you want to see this move ( I also put a modified re enforced Firebird Commander wing on it to make it fly faster ) Great little plane you should have stuck with it and the parts are dirt cheap.

Regards Dave Roberts.

Have a look at these videos I took a few weeks ago and this is before I used the Lippo....http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13845#post13845

[aeajr]

David Roberts,

Based on what you wrote, you don't have the same plane as you put in differnet componetns which makes it a different package.

Based on reviews I have read, the Ventrua is a pretty good flyer but definately not a good first plane. RacerRSX was trying to learn to fly with this plane. That would be challenging.

The Stryker is also not considered a first plane, but it is more stable, more crashable and more powerful than the Ventura.

This RC flying thing is not obvious and when you start with a plane that really isn't all that well suited to a new flyer, that just makes it harder.

[david roberts]

aeajr,

Not spoke to you for a while, perhaps I should make myself clearer when I purchased the Electrasport/Ventura air frame I put in my own 400 motor identical to the stock out of the box RTF deal, along with a old ABC 8.4V battery (my own esc which as no effect or influence on flight ) and two economy 9g servos....the plane flew like a dream. ( A far easier and smoother plane to learn on than a Stryker) There must have been a problem with that particular plane.

It was only later that I modified and dropped a brushless motor in there because I was so impressed with the planes basic flight characteristics and durability.

Check out the original review and video on the Ventura!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=393

Regards Dave Roberts.

[aeajr]

Thanks for the clarification. I thought you were indicating you "souped" it up.


My comment that is is probably not a good first plane came directly from the Greg Covery review. I feel is review are excellent and I accept his evaluations at face value.

" The FlyZone Ventura is a great flyer! Although it is not a trainer, it could be used to train a novice under the supervision of a seasoned pilot. The additional flights that I had with the Ventura have convinced me that this plane is an exceptional flyer with plenty of power and a great value! "

[david roberts]

Yes I did 'soup' it up with great results and on a budget, it flys great and will reach 70 mph in level flight, maybe a little more, but it also flys great in its stock form.
This information was offered to racerRSX because he was asking for it. And I thought that maybe he was a little premature in writing the plane off (forgive the pun) and that it was probably a power issue (dud battery maybe) or the plane was set up wrong. I also gave him the power option by dropping an affordable brushless motor in there. This was the reason I posted the comment to him. If he could go on to fly a Stryker then he could certainly have flown the Ventura (providing it had no problems from the factory) beginner or no beginner. I have flown both planes so I'm speaking from experience.

Since he's not replied it makes all this academic anyway.

Best Regards

Dave Roberts.