Dave,

I've had too much experience tearing off/damaging stabs on my gear-less models. Even when its mounted on top of the fuselage it doesn't take much of a cross wind - or for less skilled pilots than I - to make contact with one wing low (a maneuver named after the famous Oriental aerobatisyst Won Wing Lo) and snagging the stab causing a dramatic halt to forward progress. Wings just aren't as vulnerable as those thin sheets of tail feather.

So, I always put a ply skid back there to raise the aft end as much as my design asthetics will allow. FWIW I always drill a hole towards the back of the skid just in case I want to tie a streamer on.

Are you gonna finish it with tissue and dope?