We have a guy flying large jets at our club. Having a plane that has to be reversed every four or five seconds so it stays visible and inside the airfield (which is surrounded by homes) is not my idea of fun. I'd rather have a biplane that does graceful aerobatics at a slow pace, but that's just me.

Have you considered model rockets? They're fast and have parachutes so they can be reused (unlike 170 mph planes in inexperienced hands).