The Easy Sport .40 is basically a Stik with a canopy attached to the wing; this is a good thing. There's no reason to cross the Easy Sport off your shopping list as it is a wonderful flying aircraft.

There are a lot of really good choices out there, and I can't say I disagree with any of the other planes mentioned in the thread. You mentioned building season, so I'm taking it for granted that you want a kit instead of an ARF. Stick to one of the airplane kits mentioned below and you should be happy with the results:

Great Planes Easy Sport .40 kit
Great Planes Rapture .40 kit
Great Planes SlowPoke Sport .40 kit
Great Planes Super Sportster .40/.60 kit
Goldberg Tiger 2/Tiger .60 kit
House of Balsa AT-6 Texan .15 to .20 kit
House of Balsa PT-19 .25 to .30 kit
Lanier Stinger .40/.60 kit
Sig Four Star .40/.60 kit
Sig Mid Star .40 kit
Top Flite Contender .60 Gold Edition Kit
Top Flite T34B Mentor Gold Edition Kit .60 to .90

Hopefully one of the above projects will capture your interest. Good luck and good shopping!