Unless you really want something with a single seat feel (and have a wife willing to stare at the back of your head), the 9 is the best bang for the buck from an efficiency stand point. Great xc plane and cheap for local tooling around. If you want the 8 for doing aerobatics, you're really going to need a CS prop at a minimum and will want a 360. Resale on a FP 320 on an 8 will be a huge kick in the junk too.
I'm also keeping my eye out for a nice ACROSPORT 1 (almost an equal trade for the 152). I don't really want anything for XC, just a sport plane for boring holes in the sky, an occasional loop/roll and rat racing my buddies around the sky with.
In 2.5 years and 130 tach hours on my 152 I haven't had it over 2500 AGL or further than 50 miles from my home field.
The ACRO1 would be great and if I wanted to take someone flying I have access to a 172.
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