Thought title was "Escape (On / To) Venus" (Not the Burroughs novel) - written for children or young adults.  About space ship of colonists heading to Venus from Earth - one young passenger is son of a former astronaut who travelled to Venus and disappeared years ago.  Son realizes that Venus is protected by an electrical field (?) that causes ships to crash land.  Once on Venus, he searches for his father and eventually finds his father's ship - can't remember if he finds his father or much else about it.  Do remember that Venus had primitive life - hostile primates of some sort that threw rocks or had slingshots (?).  Seem to remember that the ship leaves earth from Alaska.