The other day I resigned from the club I have been a member of since May of 1996. Several reasons, most of which I don't want to get into here but I figured as maintenance officer I have worked nearly 150 hours this year (and paid monthly dues for the privilege) which was time I could be spending on my business, or on the homebuilt design I have been trying to work on for several years & I don't seem to be making any progress.

Which leaves me without anything to fly. If I buy something to fly near term I would like to buy an experimental so that I can do the maintenance. My question is, is there any readily available homebuilt that comes near to the performance of a Cheetah or Tiger (with comparable 160 or 180 HP) that won't cost an arm and a leg to buy? For that matter something similar in performance to a 172 with the same engines would probably do the trick. I need at least 2 seats plus baggage, or a 2+2, but I really need at least 750lb useful load, over 800 would be better. Also, I am 6'2" with broad shoulders so anything much narrower than a 172 would be tight.