John Silver

Hi all. First post, after a lot of reading! A little background. Retired Air Force avionics maintenance guy, specializing in autopilots, flight instruments, and navigation equipment, troubleshooting on the bench, on the plane, and in the air. Got the first Boy Scout Aviation Merit Badge in Louisiana, when a neighbor (WWII B-17 pilot) took me up in his Cub. As a young adult, a friend owned a 150 and I got approximately 20 hours stick time over a two year period, no landings or takeoffs. In the Air Force, lots of in flight time, but only a few hours stick time in 135s, 141s, and 130's. Absolutely no takeoffs or landings. I haven't flown anything in 20 years or so. But I do love flying, navigating, and just being up there. Am retiring to the boonies (northern Arkansas) next year and will try to find land suitable to hold a 3000' grass runway. Wife and I think it might be practical to fly ourselves around the country visiting grand kids, etc., instead of driving or taking a commercial. Our two routine destinations will be 1,000 miles southeast, the other 1,000 miles west. I want a canard, but will not attempt to build my own. The reason is not laziness. I just know myself fairly well. I've always been good with my hands, but sometimes take the easy way out and do things half-assed, and I worry that I might be tempted to do this if building a homebuilt. I'd rather find a plane, get it thoroughly checked out, and have the piece of mind that it was put together correctly. Plan would be to buy a 150/152, learn to fly and get a license, sell the 150 and buy a canard. Been looking at the Q-200 (tricycle gear, not tail dragger) and like the performance and price. But I don't see much in this forum on Quickies. I like the side-by-side seating vs. Long-EZ, and have nothing against the Cozy, but the prices I've seen are quite a bit higher than Quickie prices. Anyone have any insight for me on Q-200 vs. Cozy? Also, good plan, bad plan? Thanks in advance.