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AIRCRAFT I'D OWN IF I COULD
In addition to, or instead of the helicopters described on the aircraft page, these are my favorite civilian aircraft I'd own if I could.  For warbirds, see the interesting inventories of Courtesy Aircraft Sales or Sherman Aircraft Sales (piston warbirds) or Air Capitol Warbirds (jets)...I guess enough money can buy ANYTHING! **Yumpin' Yimminy!** Why didn't I know about Thornton Aircraft before? F-5, T-38 heaven
The beautiful, comfortable, and silky-smooth riding Commander 115tc.  Finally the comfort and "big plane" features of a commander at over 200mph.  Cost new @$500,000+.  As of early January 2003, the company is in bankrupcy.  No reflection on the aircraft, just the economy.**Update 06/05** a group of comander owners has purchased all assets, plans to relocate and start again.  I wish them luck.
The venerable BD-4 homebuilt. Fast enough and tough. Admittedly ugly, but easy to build.  Seldom gets the respect it deserves.  Built from a kit, @$50,000.  Have been built for under $20,000 from plans.
The mighty Lancair IV-P.  You could build one, too-though I'd recommend the factory builder assist.  Cruises at over 350MPH.  It dosen't get any more macho than this.  Could be built nicely for under $500,000
The Bellanca Super Viking.  Wooden wings scare off the foolish (who leaves their mooney, bonanza, etc. out in the rain and snow anyway?) This one is currently for sale for $85,000.  Beloved by anyone who knows, fast and pretty-handles well, too.  The best bang for your buck in civilian certificated aviation.
The Piper Aerostar-very fast, very cramped. Sacrifices almost everything for speed-pray for long runways but oh, sooo pretty!  Will set you back $150,000-700,000 or so.
The Cessna Skymaster.  Simply a good aircraft.  A great modification is the SuperSkyrocket (formerly Riley) conversion.  Good capabilities, descent safety
The loveable Ercoupe.  Will lose to anything in a climb contest, but ridiculously cheap to fly.  Unspinnable until macho overcame safety and folks put the rudder pedals back in.  The first "nose-dragger" in general aviation.
MDHI 520N. No tail rotor=no t/r strikes. safe, quiet,  would make a nice commuter in a less hysterical state.  Could be yours for @ $900,000.
My next house (yeah, right!) with the excellent robinson R-44 ($320k new) on it. R-44 is the worlds best selling helicopter.  Does almost everything a turbine can do for 1/3 the cost, price.
The Extra 400 @230kts with five of your friends riding ultra-cool for a paltry $950k
Honorable Mention:
Navion-everything you could want in an aircraft except speed-tough as nails.
Aero Commander darter, lark series- cheap and easy to fly.
Beech Staggewing, Spartan Executive, Cessna 190/195; AAAAH, the glory of classic aircraft.  These define grace.
Diamond DA-42 'Twinstar' Twin safety with @ 10.7gph for BOTH engines at 180kts!  Runs diesel engines, so it can use a variety of fuels.  Ridiculous range.  This aircraft perfoms almost as well as a homebuilt single without all the homebuilt headaches.  No wonder Cessna, Piper, and Mooney all look so dated.
Why argue with success?  far and away the best kit aircraft company (sorry, lancair, comp-air, Cozy, etc.) is Van's Aircraft from Aurora, Ore.  Has 3,682 kits FLYING as of 06/02/03.

The difference between Van's and pretty much everyone else is that they actually fly prototypes and actually service customers-no 'delivery positions' to buy- only honest, exciting aircraft that perform as advertised when YOU build them, no misleading performance figures there.  Noone has put half this many experimental planes in the sky, there's a reason why.  Before plunking down tens of thousands of dollars on a dream that hasn't even flown yet consider a company with verifiable integrity.  Then send me a photo of your project so I can wish I had one.  The aircraft above is an RV-8