Rod 1 summed it up pretty well.
I fly the C42 100hp microlight. I like it, I like it a lot, enough that I fly 200+ hours a year, over Europe and the UK regularly, I am based in Ireland.
I find it a very capable touring aircraft. Regarding the engine issue, you will hear the snide remarks as stated earlier, just ignorance on the part of the poster and you can disregard this type of crap, they will grow up and learn yet !
This type of topic comes up all the time, which one is better?
They are all good, they do the job slightly differently, a few questions:
Do you want a high wing or low wing, high wing are easier to hangar in a congested environment and less likely to suffer hangar rash.
The C42 has astounding short field ability, can operate easily from 200 metres of grass and still offers a pretty good cruise of 80 knots plus.
Is an all metal aircraft important, then the Eurostar it is.
If speed is important then some of the faster composite stuff is the job, remember you have given yourself a wide budget mark, The C42/Eurostar league is 35K plus up to 80K for the upper end, it may be prudent to decide your budget first.
I have owned Rans/C42's/Eurostars and have flew quite a lot of others, I still choose the C42 on the criteria I judge it by, but that is very much my criteria hence my choice.
Rod's idea is good, talk to owners/pilots, get a trip in as many as possible, but bear in mind that each owner will probably give you a biased view of the type they fly. The jabiru aircraft is also fine, it is roomier than it looks and has a good speed envelope, but one of my judging criteria was that it had to be a Rotax 912 engine, from experiences gained by being an aircraft inspector and check pilot. I have seen numerous 912's with over 2000 hours on them, they are superb. There is a reason why those type of aircraft is holding the superb s/h value, it is simply operating/owning costs, and the ability to operate from short strips, couple this to the fact that they leave the older spam sans in their wake and there is simply no contest, just look and see how much old stuff is in the classifieds at dirt money.
By the way, I have a couple of C42's on my books should you be interested
