I agree with you regarding the gear plates. They are seriously wrong. Per the advice of Molar mender (thanks Roy), I rebuilt the gear plates with ply and carbon fiber and lengthened them so that they extend beyond the wing ribs. I then sandwiched them with laminated 1/8" x 1/2" carbon fiber glued and screwed to the top part of each rib. We took the jet out this afternoon to try it out. They're so much stronger now. I also shimmed the aft part of the retract with 1/8" ply to rotate the strut forward so it's more perpendicular to the wing. Not only did this make it stronger, it really improved the take off by changing the moment of rotation of the nose. We put on 2 flights but we're still having trouble with the gear retracting. I'm using 120psi and 2 large tanks for volume. It's really frustrating. ( PST needs to get it together and provide some equipment that works! ) Hopefully they'll get the "new and improved" retracts out soon so we can finally enjoy all aspects of this jet. By the way, I agree that it (even with the gear down) flies and lands nice.
Here's a few pics: