It's always bad to hear about a crash.
Did you ever adjust the "idle" mixture? You usually need a screw driver to do this unlike the needle valve.
I really liked the first sugestion you had about a Stick as a second plane. Their easy to build, fix and they pretty much always fly great. You will need to hunt down a old one though if your looking for a kit. Goldberg still sell the Falcon 56 MK III. Pretty much a stick w/ an airfoiled stab and a canopy. Also I would really recomend the Great Planes Super Sportster or a Kaos, if your starting to like the low wing planes.
The Diamond Dust is an Awsome plane. But it is mainly a "Go Fast" plane. It doesn't really do aerobatics as well as a conventional plane. It all depends on what you want your second plane to do.



DM