Tom, I wish I was that good... lets just say that the photographs, taken before the model's first flight, are very kind to the covering job.

I made the same mistake Terry did with the nose gear. I also made the additional mistake of following the directions and used the sheet-metal screws to hold the nose gear to the firewall. Throw those out and use blind-nuts and bolts.

I was disappointed with how much sanding and carving there was... especially when the ads for the plane say there isn't much. I figured on the cowl... but never dreamed I'd have to shape the wing's leading edge out of a balsa 1x2 (forget the dremel, buy yourself a Mouse Sander). Even my TF P-47, which is not a beginner's kit, used a pre-shaped LE. The cowl wasn't as much of a pain as the LE. As long as the spinner clears, it won't effect flight, no matter what it looks like. The wing sheeting they provided in my kit was junk. Thin and very brittle. If I were to build it again... I think I would go with a bit thicker sheeting. I'd probably also mount the engine sideways like Terry's, looks cool that way. Otherwise it was an easy build (my first kit).

Its only bad habit was some roll-coupling with rudder... but if you do the modified wingtips, that shouldn't be a problem. I solved it on my Contender with my computer radio by mixing a little aileron with the rudder.

I flew it all last year and will fly it more this year. Lots of fun! It survived a minor "controlled crash landing" into adjacent field (engine quit ~30' feet up and two-thirds down the runway) with just the wing mounting blocks getting torn out. No other damage.