RE: First plane
Yep, and all of those liferaft flares will work just fine, provided you don't drop them while lit. [sm=drowning.gif]
I've never flown the LT40. I have flown several of the ones I though of as appropriate, including a Tower 40, Nexstar, Hobbico Suuper Star, Senior Falcon, Protege, and a few others, so what I said was not without some experience.
And, I do agree that setting it up as tail dragger is definitely the way to go. It teaches several aspects of take-off and landing that you just don't get with a trike setup.
CGr.