Wildnloose,

I think you were an above average flyer when you went to your 2nd plane. As you said, you had wrung your trainer out thoroughly. The reason the Stick is such a good 2nd plane is because a lot of students jump to their 2nd plane too soon and the "lower performance" of the Stick is perfect to keep them out of trouble. In your case the SE was perfect, in the case where the student is rushing into a second plane, I think they should go with the Stick.

The above is also why I shudder every time I see high performance planes like the Contender and Kaos on these lists as second planes. I think these should be 4th or 5th planes. It's not that I don't like them, I've flown them. It's just waaayyy out of the league for someone just jumping up from a trainer. All this is not a slam to you or anybody, in fact, I commend you for being so ready for your "2nd plane". Fact is, most students are not.