LOL.... Thanks. I picked up a set of BJ's formed aluminum main gear at my LHS today. I'll add a little light ply as you say and bolt it on.

I guess I'm just unlucky with the Laser. I have lost an elevator half three times because of grass catching the counterbalance. The Laser flys quite well on just one elevator half with the other flapping in the breeze. I rebuilt the elevator and counterbalance with several hardwood sticks and it has held up so far. I lost the original ply engine mount twice. I now have a metal mount. I lost the firewall once. I now have a 3/16 ply firewall with hardwood triangle stock reinforcing it at the fuse. None of this was the result of crashes or hard landings, just normal every-day abuse. I'd blame it all on poor kit building skills or lousy flying, but I have had no problem with any of my other 5 kit-built models, some of them with hundreds of flights.