[Tim Hancock]

You can definitely find a small two seat airplane for 25k. As Joe stated, old taildraggers are lots of "fun" to fly and if fun is what you are after, by all means go for it. At most small local fly-ins, no one even notices the 40-50k 172, instead most like looking at the old classics.

100 mph vs 125 mph is not too big of a difference when going on a 500 mile trip. Sure a Bonanza would be a great choice if you intended to travel cross country alot, but I bet Joe has just as much "fun" buzzing around is his Aeronca (as I do in my 125 mph Pacer) as guys who are flying 175 mph birds when it comes to shorter trips or $100 dollar hamburger trips.

One "cheap" plane I can think of is pretty fast, but would not like low and slow stuff is a Grumman AA1 "Yankee". 125 or so mph, but poor short field or high density altitude performance.

Note, I am not knocking Bonanzas (I would love to have one), but small cheap (relatively slow) airplanes are plenty of "fun" to fly. Hell, Joe flys jets for a living yet he chooses to fly an old tube and fabric classic for fun.

When I want low and slow flying ("fun"), I usually drag out my ultralight and go have a blast. It only cruises at about 65, but it is a blast landing on short strips and on occasion smooth farm fields or BIG backyards.