I have been working on designing my own plane, but I am beginning to realize that this is going to be a long process, & I want to be building now.

It appears that a Thorp S-18 would come pretty close to satisfying my needs (although I would like a little more baggage capacity, but that is not a deal breaker)

Most trips would be 2 guys 6'2" - 6'4" with wide shoulders (the reason for looking at the S-18 over the T-18), the heaviest pilot/passenger combination would be around 500 lb.

According to the data on this page
http://thorp18.com/forum/default.asp?CAT_ID=3
it looks like it will do it.

Anyone want to tell me their opinions of the Thorp?