I left mine as a tricycle gear. And the highwing was left that way too.

There was nothing that needed strengthening. I did add a "chin piece" between the slab sides at the nose to streamline the thing. Did that after about 100 flights, one night in the shop just because it seemed about the only thing that didn't seem to be top drawer with the airplane. I fly off of grass that needs cutting some days. And some of the grass clippings stick in the engine compartment. Plus those wide open noses with cosmetic slab sides are just plain draggy.



Oh yeah, on my low wing, the gear legs that came with my ARF were a dumb mistake. They were probably the wrong ones for the airplane. Either that or it was a typical "Chinese airplane factory" move. They really don't have a clue about design, just make the things. And the main gear legs were attached directly under where the CG would be. And they pointed straight down. If they knew anything about the airplane part of airplane models, they'd have known instantly how stupid that is. But then, I've yet to see more than one or two ARFs in the 20 or so I've assembled recently that didn't have at least one major flaw. They're usually either design or manufacturing flaws, but they show time and again that the ARF industry is simply a toy industry that has branched out into a profitable sideline.

I have a number of taildraggers, so left my Calmato as a trike. I also use it buddy boxing when the student reaches the point he'd learn from flying a different handling airplane. So the trike gear serves that purpose as well.

If the main struts included in the kit are bent flat, they're going to point down, and the tires are going to be directly under the CG. You do not want that. The main tires should touch the ground on a line about 15degrees aft of the CG. If they're straight under the CG, the airlane is screwed. They won't even sit quietly, much less taxi worth spit.

I mention this for the guys who're dealing with the low-wing Calmato Sport. The high-wing Calmato didn't have any problem with the gear as mfg'd.