I was in the same boat as you are in now. I like the Pitts Bipe thing and I like the looks of the Shoestring. Both are awesome looking planes and get high reviews here among the RCU community. I chose the Shoestring to start with simply for same reason you like it...Looks! I am in the process of assembling it so I don't have a realistic review for ya, but I will say that first looks are very impressive. Either way you go, you can't lose.

Luke[8D]