Flying for fun,
I agree with everything you said and the WACO looks good. I would however add good visibility but also agree that tandem is best: its not good if you're offset to one side so the rear seat should be positioned a little higher than the front. It would also be best if it was a bi-plane. And of course a stick is essential. A control column on an airliner is not good but on a light aircraft its immoral.
However I dont think that any plane that conformed to all this could be better than something like a spitfire as they have such a history/importance behind them and are vintage planes. And they go at 400mph.