I came across some info and pictures of a "VP-I" all aluminum ultralight, although it looks akin to a MimiMax. It's called a CA-2 and Hummel Aviation used to sell plans for it but don't anymore. I don't know why. Anyway, I actually found a couple of videos on YouTube of two different ones flying and they looked pretty good, I don't think either of them had the performance of the MiniMax though, so I don't know if sacrificing performance just to build with aluminum would be worth it. I've never built (anything flyable) with wood but I do like using aluminum. About 1990 or so I had a Nomad Honcho and it would hit 48 mph WOT, and with a 36 ft. wing span any little breeze was bad. Even with an ultralight, I still want to be able to fly somewhere and not just in the pattern!
Bob