RE: retracts or fixed?
I agree everybody should do retracts at least once. Been there, done that and got the T-shirt. And have plans to do it again. There is, what I consider, an attractive alternative to the wire wing mounted gear on the US1000. I used a set of Great Planes Ultimate Bipe landing gear and wheel pants. Painted them to match the Ultracote covering. It looks a bit more sleek than the kit supplied gear. Of course, this only works if you want a taildragger. For a trigear twin engine configuration, one should have no problem using retracts as the nose gear can retract into the fuse where the tank would normally go.