jfetter,

Point well made, no offense taken.

Grass ops will definitely be harder on a gear mount than hard surface runways.

I will clarify that when my 3 layer ply plates where inspected, there was NO visible glue residue present on ANY of the original kit joints. The GLUE joints broke without displacing ANY wood what so ever. All you can see is that whatever glue was used, I' assume some type of CA, it all was sucked into the ribs and virtually none penetrated into the ply gear plates. NO landing gear plateshould be installed with CA, they should be epoxied. The 4 glue joints that keep the gear plate in the wing are very small in contact area with their mating ribs, THAT's IT. I personnaly feel additional blocking is desirable.

I have seen this exact same condition exist on the GeeBee from Pacific Models. There is a LONG thread on this issue.

One other important note is that when using WIRE gear legs as originally specified, their is significant flex in them to provide less bending on the gear mounting plates. When installing Robo-struts, the shock absorption is vertical and they do place a higher rotational force on the gear plates.

As I have mentioned previously, I accept the gear plate issues as I have elected to use the Robo-strut and I find it a minor problem considering the performance the RB has delivered to which I am pleased with.

As to the test flight, this info is good info and IF you have a problem, you now know how to fix it.

Best of luck with your maiden as I'm certain you will be pleased.

BR