I fully agree with the statement "for those of us pushing the envelope you need to expect to make mods"; that's why I'm making a new stab. The stock stab might be OK for sport engines (with or without mods) but I'm not willing to take the chance. It will only take a few evenings to cut templates & cores, sheet, add LE/TE/tips then re-cover. Some might say it's overkill but at least I know that it will be strong enough. We've used them on warbird racers (160+) and they've never given us any trouble.

Sanding the glass before installing the formers (inside the fuse) is standard practice and I would have done it even if it's not listed in the instructions.

I suspect that at least some of the gear mounting failures might be caused by the un-sanded laser-cut plywood parts. Glue just doesn't stick to that stuff very well. Looks like some tri-stock and epoxy/milled glass will be in order.

This is STILL a great kit!