I'm almost the same age as you. Build that wing flat. I built an LT 40 with just a little dihedral. Now I wish it was flat even though my plane flies great. Easier to align everything also. The plane will still have inherent dihedral from being a high wing. If you have a sim, flatten out the wing and see how much better it flies compared to a lot of dihedral. I think that plane manufactures spec that much dihedral so your plane is a PIA to fly so you want another plane. Mine is rubberbanded, wish it was wing bolted. Not that bands are that hard to work with, just a PIA compared to bolts. You might want to go with nose gear also. While learning to fly you have enough to worry about without dealing with tail gear. I added some dubro synthetic landing gear to mine. It adds a little weight but it never bends and my plane tracks really well because of it. Other companies make synthetic gear also. Something to consider.