Chooch,
You are about to start a major war of brands here...

I'll start. The QQ Yak is about the best of the best. It is the lightest I've seen. Mine weighed 16lbs 6 ozs ready to fly, less fuel, with a DA50R. It is the best quality you can get and is a wonderfully good flying plane. It is the most complete and has the easiest of the easy cannister mount, if you want that. QQ flys one and wins everything he enters with it. Customer service is the best.

I had the AeroWorks Yak also. It is a great plane and equal to QQ in every way but weight. My weighed 18lbs 8ozs. Too heavy for my "thin air". Excellent customer service.

The EF Yak is a great plane, but it's heavy for a 50cc plane. Better suited for a 60CC engine. Most are 17.5lbs to 18lbs from what I can see, but I don't personally have one.

The WildHare Sukohi might also be a choice if you want something similar but different. Wild Hare will be the least expensive and will be a great plane. I have a WH Edge 50cc and a Sukhoi 100CC. Both are very nice planes. Weight is about average. Customer service is excellent.

Thunder Tiger is the same as TOC I think. They are handled by TBM I think. I have a TOC 33% Yak. It was the hardest to build of all the planes I've had but one of the very best flyers. The quality is better than average but less than the QQ and EF and Wild Hare. But, speaking for my self, I was more than pleased with the way mine flies. It's outstanding, so the little things I've had to work out seem to be worth it.

The Carden looks great to me. But it you read about it many think the quality is a bit of a let down. They are expecting "Carden" quality but are getting H-9 quality which isn't bad but not the VERY best. Some are complaining about the way the canopy mounts and the paint match on the cowl, etc.

If I was doing it again...I'd still go with the QQ. Doesn't get any better than that.

Thanks
Barry