I agree with building it light. Mine came in at around 24 or 25 oz. and floats very well. That gives you more time to look for thermals, and will let you thermal in very light conditions.

Also, make templates of the various sized wing ribs before you build the wing so you can easily rebuild a wing panel in case of a crash (or hangar incident ).

When a crash totaled my fuse, I changed to a Nyrod for the rudder since the stock setup leaves the rudder quite sloppy. Not mandatory, but it did make the rudder control more precise.

The monokote hinges they describe in the manual work great and are light and easy to do. My GL is over 10 years old and the hinges are still in good shape.

Once you have the wing (& fuse) covered, line it up with the stab and side to side, then make matching marks with a permanent marker on both wing and fuse. This makes it a snap to put the wing on correctly each time. Also, I used some pieces of wing saddle tape on the fuse to help keep the wing from sliding around in flight.

Get some 0.020" or 0.030" by 1 1/4" plastic strip at the hobby shop and stick it to the underside of the fuse from the front to the back of the wing saddle or so. This will keep your covering from getting torn up on landings. I stuck mine down with carpet tape, but you could also glue it with silicone or something like that.

Have fun with the GL, she's a great ship!