Got my first plane today and I'm looking for some advice. Here is what I have:

Beaver DHC-2
Himax HA2015-4100
3s 1500 Lipo
Phoenix 10
HS-55 Servo (2)
Cirrus MRX-4 Receiver
Triton

Let me know if you see anything there that doesn't make sense.

The three big questions I know of at this point are (1) which gearing to use with the Himax and (2) what prop? I have a 8060 and 9047. And finally, (3) I've read through a bunch of mods on these boards but its left me a bit confused, just what is the "gold standard" for the wing struts, wing reinforcing tape and landing gear enhancement, etc.? Or should I just stick with the supplements provided with the manual?

Pinning the struts is required! Instead of taping the wing as discribed in the instructions, I've started doubling the struts and it works better. This will also hold any washout you may build into the wing. As for the gearing and prop, it depends on what your looking for. I'd start with the lowest gearing, 6.6 to1, and the largest prop. This is for 3-D type flying. Go for higher gearing and smaller props for speed. Experiment to see what you prefer. You should also check the amp draw to be sure you don't excede the Pheonix 10's max.

A bunch of us fly Beavers with the 2015/4100 motor. We use the stock gearing and prop, C gear, 10-8 prop.
Most of the time we use 2s packs, altough if it's windy we use 2 packs in parallel for more weight, or 3s packs.
The Beaver is not really strong enough for the 3s, so throttle management is key.
In any case use the strapping tape on the wings in the X pattern. Without it they will flutter.
Pin the struts and glue them very well to the fuse and wing. Use a larger piece of foam or thin plywood to glue the clevises to, and check them often before flying. I've seen a lot of them let go. Light foam wheels around 2.5" diameter are great. The stock wheels don't last long. MPI makes some nice spoked ones.
An improvement is to make a steerable tail wheel. Really helps with ground handling, since the Beaver always want to ground loop. I took a new wire and poked it up through the hole where the old one was, then bent and taped it to the rudder. I ran the wire through a small tube, like inner nyrod, to keep it from wearing on the foam.

I fly off grass so I don't use any LG. It kinda "plops" to a landing. [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]I also have one powered with an AXI brushless.[sm=punching.gif]