Once you see what the 'models' are modeled after they look so much cooler! Nice plane you got there.
One of my pipe dreams is to design a plane for my thesis or something, and a step further would be to have a biofuel conversion engine towing it around (mechanical engineering major). With all the free time they leave you in the curriculum I doubt it will ever happen, but hey, you never know...
Anyway you're absolutely right - hopefully this degree will earn me a house with a room that's actually big enough to put a plane together (wing dings are just totally unavoidable at this point) and weekends off to fly my planes. And hopefully a pilot's license.
Back to the thread topic: I guess the recommendation is something at least 25% if not bigger. Extra, Edge, Sukhoi, Staudacher...any of these would be fine, and gas is the way to go for IMAC.
What about bipes? 
...time to keep dreaming...