I have had a Great Planes AT6 Texan for the past month and a half or so and its given me soo many problems, its unbelievable.

The first, and main problem, is the landing gear and how terrible the bracing is from the factory. Even after bracing it myself, it still isnt sturdy enough. I would be willing to bet I have had the gear ripped out atleast 6-7 times since I have had the plane. Now, Im not a PRO pilot, but I think I can land pretty well. Even guys at the field ask "Why did that happen? You came in slow enough". It seems like just about every time I take this plane to the field, I have to fix something on it.

Second, I was flying yesterday and did a tight loop and notice it was flying weird, so I brough it back in. Its a 3 piece wing. The left piece had seperated from the middle of the wing. And it didnt seperate where I glued it, it seperated right after the brace (Im not sure what its called, but its the piece of wood that goes from the leading edge of the wing to the trailing edge). Now, if it seperated at the seam where I glued it, I would blame myself for bad glue job, but it seperated somewhere where I could not access due to the fact it was covered from the factory.

Third.. I was bringing my plane into the house and accidently TAPPED, not hit, the elevator wing on the door. The left side of the elevator snapped off!! I mean, barely tapped it!

I dont know if these issues are my fault or factory defects, but this plane is starting to take the fun out of flying. It really sucks having to leave the field early on a beautiful day because your gear has ripped out for the millionth time. The only GOOD thing I have gotten out of this plane, thus far, is the ability to make good repairs and it has made me a better pilot. I went from a trainer to a warbird without any problems.

Has this plane served its purpose and its time to retire it? Or should I call Great Planes up and raise a stink about the build quality (even though its after the 30 days)?

I believe any factory defects should be replaced!!.. Which means people
have to call the company and give them the true problems that exist with
the plane... That being said.....
I also believe.. Advance models will not take the abuse like a trainer, second
plane does and most War birds needs to come in a little "hot" which can lead to
abuse of the air frame if your not use to these models...
If it's a defect.... Call..... If you assisted in the problems.... Gotta bite the bullet...

I think the best is to bring some 5min epoxy, some CA, and tape to the field. You can't imagine how many times I've seen people rip out their gear, tear holes through wings, had things fly off, only to see them fly again after half and hour. It's not pretty... but it allows you a full day of flying/repairing!

I would voice my opinion to GP.

Go ahead and plan to replace it, as GP may only take the notice with a grain of salt, but at least let them know there's a problem

Well, this is what happened.. I called, probably about 3 weeks ago (which was during my 30 days from purchase), to let them know what the situation was. I told them I was having issues with the landing gear and how the bracing for it was terrible. They said if I wanted I could send the wing to them and they'll determine if its a warrenty issue or not and send another wing.. Well, two problems with this. If I sent them the wing and they decide its not a warrenty issue, I have to pay for shipping for no reason. Second, even if they send me the same wing, how is that fixing the problem? I think its more of a design problem. I would just have to rebrace the new wing too.

Well, I decided to keep my wing and brace the crap out of it with hardwood strips. I mean, seriously, guys at the field had never seen that much bracing just for gear. One guy even said "If the gear come out this time, its taking the whole wing with it". Well, the gear took a dump again right at the bracing.

The basic problem is, among other things, where they have the gear/bracing at is not a good place. There is not enough "beef" in the wing there and is just bound to keep ripping out..

Bobby, is there any way you could post a pic or a drawing of how it is currently braced? If you can, some of us could probably show you a good way to make it hold.

My opinion; time to move it on. Get something else that you will be happy with!![8D]