The following is in response to a question asked by a user which is no longer in the database:
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Aircraft I've flown:

The Quicksilvers are tried and true designs, very strong and safe, but slow. I've got many hours in a single seat MXL, and it is fun. You have a lot of time to think about what's coming next. Lots of dihedral, lots of rudder required to turn them. Totally open cockpit, which is great on warm days and brutal on cold ones.

I flew a Quicksilver GT500 once and hated it..but that was pretty early in my flying career.

Air Creation Clipper trike is a nicely built and decently fast delta wing trike. It's more like riding a motorcycle through the sky. Open cockpit, and you have to enjoy the triangle control bar trike thing. Advantage is that no hangar is needed, you can trailer it home. I took a ride in one once at Santa Ynez. The guy let me fly it a little from the back seat, it seemed fun.

Some other brands/models I've seen up close but not flown are the Max-Air Drifter. Not sure if they're made anymore, but another company called Talon builds a nearly identical design. It's a single or tandem seat taildragger with [apparently] good manners and decent speed. Open cockpit. They're located here in PDX out at the Sandy River airport.

Avid and Kitfox both make single seat conventional-looking aircraft.

The Kolb Firestar is kind of a neat design, taildragger. I've seen a pilot with no tailwheel experience handle one okay. Once again, never flown one.

The [HyTek] Hurricane was a neat design, but I'm not sure if they're made anymore.

Titan Tornado is a very fast 2-seat design, but you might as well own a Cessna 152.

Rans makes a single seat model too, once again, never flown one, but all reports are that they are nowhere near as docile and forgiving as a Quicksilver.

M-Squared aircraft are basically descendants of the Quicksilver design, with rigid struts instead of kingpost and cables.

CGS Hawk was the design that killed that Wal-Mart heir in Jackson, WY.

Northwing Trikes look neat...I'm always tempted to get some instruction in one.

Caveat Emptor with buying used ultralights. Any machine that is not eligible for Part 103 and was built prior to Jan 2008 has to have been certified and signed off by a DAR in the LSA category. 2-seat ultralights are no longer exempted under Part 103 to be flown under the USUA Basic Flight Instructor provision. If it's not certified experimental light sport, it's a boat anchor and can't be legally flown, or legally converted to LSA, if it doesn't qualify for Part 103.

Go with a brand new kit and a brand new engine. Build times are considerably shorter than conventional experimentals with semi-monocoque construction like Zeniths. The rags, or "sails" they use on the rag 'n tube wings is dacron that you shrink with a heat gun and then coat with UV protectant. It's not nearly as time consuming as Stitts or similar.

I know, that was more like $2.00