Well I'd have to say i think i got what i payed for..(like said earlier...spinner and mount probably come close to $120 if purchased sepperatly....so for $180 you get one hell of a deal!!!.. But you're right.. considering how long it was delayed (all though from what i've herd the delay was due to licensing for the stickers...(ie. the name Rare bear and other companies), you'ld think they'ld have done some R&D....but it was proabably allready well into production......I do scratch my head and wonder what they where thinking with those skinny retract rails... Those things would be iffy at best on a 40 size plane....i'm also scractching my head thinking why i didn't reinforce it the way i just did when I first built it.... Oh well.. live and learn...(Even though I fly off brand new asphalt, tri-stock alone wasn't enough....just a word from the (now) wise)

Anyhow here's what i did to reinfoce, and I think it's going to be pretty bomb proof. First picture shows how much sheeting I cut away (probably could be done wthout cutting anything, but getting a good fit of the parts would be tough, and you'ld need some small fingers and plenty of patience. Then using 1/8 ply I cut a piect that laps under the rail, and has tristock on the 3 bottom sides where it meets the ribs and wing spar as you look at it from the pictures point of view. Then I use 1/4' ply to fill between the LG rails and the wing spar, finshed up with the the pieces of tristcok you see on top (acctually the bottom). re-sheet and give it a patch of covering....On the leading edge side, I just laped a piece of 1/4 " under the railand gave it tristock on both the top and bottom where it meets the spar running along the leading edge. I did all this on both sections between the ribs that support the landing gear..... i think that's as good as it's going to get, and should be able to withstand the massive mommet created by the grear (really have to try to 3-point land it so the gear legs are at less than 90 degtrees to the runway ... at leas that would be good thunkin)... It would have been pretty easy in the assembly phase to have made those gear mounts go all the way back & forward like I've done mine but all with one piece of wood rathger than having to piece it together like I did.... Maybe on the next production run if there is one. Can't wait to get it in the air again.....too bad winter has set in and there's snow on the ground.

As for all the gripes..... there's always those who expect to be able to just put it together and go...... and there's always people who go ape-s*it when something goes wrong (look at the Funtana 90 thread).....but the big manufactures will stand up for their productrs and set things right AS LONG AS you're not an ass to them on the phone.....think about it.... nobody helps a jerk. I'm with Rich....i remember the early arfs......Todays are an incredible deal (and all thanks to cheap labor in asia).... I've also yet to own an Arf that didn't require a little mod here and there. I think people that gripe about small issues (I consider the rare bear issues pretty small) should build a plane from a kit......It'll make you very appreciative of what you get for what you pay for in an ARF!