The good news for 2013 is that a new model was added to the production ranks late in 2012. The bad news is that it's a former LSA, the Cessna 162. In a sense, another model was reintroduced in the form of the Liberty XL2. Liberty was substantially revived by a huge 200-airplane order, all aircraft to be built at a new plant in China. Liberty produced only three airplanes in 2011, but the Chinese order reconfirmed that the product remains viable.

What we've labeled Adventure Aircraft are those models most often flown for fun, utility or both. These are frequently the heavy haulers that can be used for off-airport operations, often mounted on floats or skis. They're also the fun machines that teach us aerobatics or just allow us to play on weekends. These are airplanes that don't necessarily demand long paved runways (or any runways at all), heavy loads of avionics or tricycle gear. Perhaps unsurprisingly, our Adventure Aircraft is the largest of the single-engine classes. (Wonder if that says anything about the general aviation market.) Have fun!

Cessna Aircraft
www.cessna.com

Cessna 162
Cessna had grand hopes for their model 162 LSA, but the economy played havoc with sales of a good airplane. The company intended to build 600 airplanes the first year (2009), and claimed they had 1,000 confirmed orders, but instead, they delivered only 30. As of August 2012, total deliveries were 267, and Cessna decided the 162 needed to be a production aircraft. In some respects, the 162 is a better machine than the 152. Cessna's newest single has a better glide ratio, improved visibility and arguably quicker cruise, plus it's a more comfortable airplane than the 152. Price: $149,000.

Cessna 172
Skyhawks are forever---or so it seems. As practically everyone's idea of everyman's airplane, the current 172SP is still a standard bearer for Cessna. Upgraded to 180 hp, the Hawk has a little more enthusiasm in climb and about 120 realistic knots in cruise with a full load, if anyone cares. More important, the venerable 172 (how could it not be venerable after 50 years in production?) is universally regarded as the most docile of trainers and most versatile of family airplanes. Price: $307,000.

Cessna 182/182T
It seems Cessna can do little wrong with the reliable Skylane. Long regarded as one of the best four-seat family airplanes in America, the 182 dates back the same half-century as the Skyhawk. With performance in the small retractable class, the Skylane is everyone's friend. Count on 135 knots across the ground following a near-1,000 fpm climb. A turbo ups the base ante $45,000 but also improves performance dramatically, making travel in the lower flight levels fast and efficient. The new Diesel Skylane is expected to be certified by the time you read this, and Cessna hopes to begin deliveries in the second quarter of this year. Prices: 182 $398,100; 182T $443,500; Diesel $515,000.

Cessna 206/206T
It seems Cessna can do little wrong with the reliable Skylane. Long regarded as one of the best four-seat family airplanes in America, the 182 dates back the same half-century as the Skyhawk. With performance in the small retractable class, the Skylane is everyone's friend. Count on 135 knots across the ground following a near-1,000 fpm climb. A turbo ups the base ante $45,000 but also improves performance dramatically, making travel in the lower flight levels fast and efficient. The new Diesel Skylane is expected to be certified by the time you read this, and Cessna hopes to begin deliveries in the second quarter of this year. Prices: 182 $398,100; 182T $443,500; Diesel $515,000.

Corvalis TTx
Cessna's only low-wing piston model is the fastest single-engine production airplane in the world---period. It's also a remarkably sophisticated machine, the top of the Cessna piston line, and the numbers are so impressive, it could even serve as a step-up airplane to the Mustang jet. The TTx incorporates the Garmin G2000 with touch-screen capability and the G700 autopilot. Full-fuel payload wasn't impressive, only 328 pounds on the airplane I flew last summer in Wichita, but speed was 225 knots up high, an easy 200 knots at breathable altitudes. Price: $733,950.

Cirrus Aircraft
www.cirrusaircraft.com

Cirrus SR20
The company's first production product and its entry-level airplane is the SR20 in any configuration you wish, from trainer to lux cross-country cruiser. Either version uses the six-cylinder Continental IO-360ES engine, rated for 200 hp. The SR20 and the later SR22 are a tribute to the work of Dale and Alan Klapmeier in designing a single that side-stepped the two greatest concerns of aspiring pilots: 1. What do you do if the engine quits? and 2. What happens if I get lost? The answer to question 1 was the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, a whole-aircraft parachute designed to lower the airplane to the ground at 18 fps. Question 2 was addressed with one of the first, large Avidyne MFDs in the industry, providing a moving-map capability that made it next to impossible to lose your orientation. The SR20 offers an 850 fpm climb and a 155-knot cruise. Price: $299,900.

Cirrus SR22/22T
This is the most popular airplane in general aviation, and it's not hard to understand why. Styled with a luxury interior designed after a BMW 5-series sedan, side stick controls and twin cabin doors, the SR22 is a comfortable ride for an hour or a day. With a 310 hp Continental IO-550 on the nose (with or without turbocharging), the SR-22 covers practically every base. Cirrus sold some 207 normally aspirated and turbocharged SR22s in 2011, and if any model can prevail in the current adverse economic and political environment, the SR22 is the one. Price: $449,900.

Diamond Aircraft
www.diamondtaircraft.com

Diamond DA20 Eclipse
This Austro-Canadian machine is perhaps the most fun trainer on the market, with more than its share of original thinking. It uses a conventional joystick for roll and pitch control, you can board from either wing and the Continental IO-540B engine cranks out 125 hp, delivering a whole lot more than 125 knots (more like 137 knots). Until 2007, Embry- Riddle provided a fleet of DA20s to the U.S. Air Force Academy with smaller fuel tanks and all flight instruments on the right side to simulate the Air Force's HOTAS (Hands On Stick And Throttle) principle. The Eclipse is spinnable with flaps full up, offers a higher glide ratio than any of its competition and a bubble canopy for excellent visibility. Its 26G seats don't adjust, but the rudder pedals do, the better to accommodate long-legged pilots. The DA-20 isn't IFR certified because of lack of lightning protection, though it may still be used for IFR training under the hood in VFR conditions. Price: $179,800.

Diamond DA40/XLS Star
The Star is a DA20 with a hormone injection and two extra seats. It features something you won't find in most other (make that any other) four-seat, piston singles--- a back door. Like its little brother, the Eclipse, the Star flies with a stick, and a separate, aft-left boarding door for back-seaters. All riders board over the leading edge of the wings rather than the training edge. Power is the virtually unbreakable 180 hp Lycoming IO-360 mill, blessed with a TBO of 2,000 hours. Originally offered with a fixed-pitch prop, the Star began offering a constant-speed Hartzell in 2006 and a three-blade semi-scimitar MT composite prop with the XLS upgrade. A few years ago, Diamond also introduced improved wheel fairings and the Power Flow-tuned exhaust system, an aftermarket mod that really works and boosts cruise to at least 147 knots. Garmin's G1000 glass cockpit is standard equipment. Price: $359,800.

Hawker Beechcraft
www.hawkerbeechcraft.com

Beech G36 Bonanza
Depending upon when you start measuring, the Bonanza may be the oldest airplane in continuous production. Its ancient ancestor, the "straight" model 35 V-tail Bonanza, premiered in 1946. The original four-seater flew behind a 185 hp Continental engine and ahead of a V-tail; today's six-seat model flies with a 300 hp Continental, a conventional tail in back, plus a Garmin G1000 glass panel that would do a Space Shuttle proud. Bonanza specs haven't changed much over the years, but if you start with good numbers, change isn't all that necessary. Price: $765,900.

Liberty Aerospace
www.libertyaircraft.com

Liberty XL2
Derived from the Europa XS motorglider, the XL2 is a wider, taller, two-seat airplane, with modified landing gear and a Continental IOF-240B, FADEC-controlled engine driving an MT composite prop. Intended primarily as a trainer, the XL2 features an all-metal, laminar flow wing with a composite fuselage, a 4130 chromoly tricycle gear and a Piper-style stabilator rather than an elevator. Fuel is contained in a single, 28-gallon, fuselage tank, so the system is either on or off. Cruise is 113 knots, and stall is an insignificant 50 knots. After selling only three airplanes in 2011 and none in 2012, the Chinese order of 200 XL2s certainly should revive the airplane's prospects. All airplanes in the new order will be built in China. No price had been announced at press time.

Piper Aircraft
www.piper.com

Piper Archer TX/LX
After its brief aborted flirtation with an LSA trainer, the Piper Sport, the company's entry-level airplane has settled down to the Archer TX/LX. The two designations describe a trainer and a luxury version respectively. The trainer version comes with teaching machine avionics, while the LX model adds a Garmin G500 glass PFD and upscale trim. Both offer the same performance---800 fpm climb and a 130-knot cruise at 7,500 feet. Perhaps foremost of the Archer's talents, however, is its docile nature for student pilots and old-timers, as well. The stall is practically non-existent, and landings make everyone look good. Price: $319,200.

Piper Arrow
The Arrow is currently the only complex trainer available from an OEM. It's also, more than coincidentally, the most benign retractable in the sky, partially owing to its lineage with the Archer. The Arrow IS essentially an Archer, but with the addition of a constant speed prop, 20 additional hp and folding gear, it comprises a class of one. If you're looking for a light, production, single-engine retractable, you've just found it. (Yes, there's the G36 Bonanza, but that's hardly a trainer.) Price: $414,900.

Piper Matrix
An unpressurized, semi-economy clone of the Mirage, the Matrix gains about 190 pounds of payload by forgoing an inflatable cabin. Weight loss has become the goal of practically every manufacturer these days, and the Matrix incorporates a simple solution. It also costs about $130,000 less and is blessed with the same power and gross weight, so it's not surprising that the Matrix achieves all the same performance goals as the Mirage, while carrying one more person (for a total of four with full fuel). Price: $903,800.

Piper Mirage PA46-350P
Everyone's friend and the airplane that almost single-handedly kept Piper afloat in the volatile 1990s, the Mirage is the only production, pressurized, piston single on the market. Though it doesn't look that much different than the original, Continental-powered Malibu, the Mirage's Lycoming boasts an extra 40 hp and an additional 200 pounds gross weight. Reliable cruise is 210 knots following a 1,000 fpm climb for the first 10,000 feet or so. Like all turbocharged aircraft, the Mirage does its best work in the flight levels, but owners in a recent survey reported operating at 17,500 feet MSL or below most of the time where cruise is still 200 knots. Price: $1,037,400.

Adventure Aircraft

American Champion
www.amerchampionaircraft.com

Champ
The 2012-2013 7EC Champ is one of the few certified airplanes that also qualifies as an LSA. The new model is only esthetically similar to the original, however. Since 1990, American Champion has produced all models with all-aluminum wings rather than the Spruce wood structure used on the originals. Add modern avionics and a 100 hp, Continental O-200D engine and the Champ flies better and notably more enthusiastically than the original 65 hp model. Operated at its 1,320-pound gross, climb is just over 700 fpm and cruise is a leisurely 80 knots, but with a fun quotient as high as the Champs, why would you want to go much faster? Price $121,360.

Aurora
The next step up the American Champion line is the Aurora, a 118 hp, metalized version of the basic Citabria. An energy management aerobat, the Aurora can be used for unusual attitude training or as a basic acro trainer, confined primarily to loops, rolls and hammerheads. It also makes a great Sunday-go-to-burger flyer, a tractable machine for those out-of-the-way airport restaurants. Useful load is typically 600 pounds, which works out to full fuel and 400 pounds of people and stuff, generous for a two seater. Price $131,720.

Adventure (Citabria)
A slightly more capable aerobatic airplane but still fitted with the standard Hershey-bar airfoil and fixed-pitch Sensenich prop, the Adventure raises the ante on power by installing a 160 hp Lycoming O-320. One immediate benefit is a 2,400-hour TBO. In addition, the Adventure offers better vertical penetration in acro mode, as well as better cross country speed, about 117 knots on nine gph. With 35 gallons aboard, the airplane has a three-hour endurance at max cruise for a range of 350 nm. Gross jumps to 1,750 pounds, and payload offers 340 pounds. Price: $140,900.

Explorer/High Country Explorer Denali
With the same engine as the Adventure, the basic Explorer enjoys a slightly larger wing and flaps for better short field performance. Specifically, takeoff and ground runs are reduced to 412 and 360 feet, respectively. The High Country Citabria Explorer improves those numbers even further by adding 20 hp for a total of 180, along with taller aluminum gear and standard 8.00x6 tires. The result is the High Country Explorer becomes a cross between the 7-series Citabria and the 8-series Scout. The taller stance provides better prop clearance for off-airport operation, while the larger tires improve ground handling on rough terrain. Price: $141,720.

Super Decathlon
The great joy of the Super Decathlon is that it's not a one-trick pony. It can fly and train limited aerobatic maneuvers, then transmogrify itself into a comfortable cross-country machine with plenty of room for baggage and reasonable range. With the benefit of a semi-symmetrical wing and a 180 hp, Lycoming, AEIO-360H Lycoming under the bonnet, properly flown Super Decathlons have won the Sportsman class in aerobatic competition, though the airplane's power loading is a little high. It's an ideal trainer for the standard loop/roll/hammerhead class of acro maneuvers, and it can do full vertical rolls, double snaps and other more exotic tricks with a trained hand on the stick. In traveling mode, Supers can maintain 115 knots over the ground after a strong 1,200 fpm climb, and they offer the unusual advantage of an occasional roll or loop enroute, just to keep things interesting. Price: $171,720.

Scout
The Scout is essentially a Super Decathlon for the backwoods. The Scout isn't rated for aerobatics, but it's hardened against the rigors of off-airport operations. The Scout features a basic design similar to that of the Adventure, but offers longer wings, flaps and taller gear, all in pursuit of short, rough field capability. Power is a standard, carbureted Lycoming O-360, delivering 180 hp to your choice of a constant speed or fixed-pitch prop. Like so many other airplanes in this class, the Scout is approved for operation on huge bush tires, skis and floats. With a stall of only 43 knots, landing numbers onto a hard surface can be as short as 300 feet, and the Scout can carry a reasonable load into places where other models would fear to roll a tread. Price: $172,015

Adventure Aircraft

Aviat Aircraft
www.aviataircraft.com

Husky A-1C
Stu Horn's Husky is a kind of super bush bird, fitted with 180 hp for max performance and maximum lifting capability. Better yet, the Husky doesn't need much space for departure and arrival. Just as the Christen Eagle homebuilt was an updated version of the Pitts S2A, the Husky is an improved variation on the Super Cub. As a result, the Husky can make its own runways on muskeg, deserts, water or snow. Price: $218,262.

Pitts S2C
The Pitts can do virtually every maneuver required in aerobatic competition, and it can train aspiring acro pilots all the way up through the unlimited class. Perhaps the best feature of a Pitts is that it feels almost like an extension of your thoughts. Pretty much any maneuver you can imagine, the Pitts can do. The S2C has only about 28 gallons of fuel capacity with 260 hp to feed, so it's definitely not a cross-country airplane. Aviat doesn't build S2Cs on a scheduled basis, but the airplane is still technically in production, and they will build one to your specifications. Ask for a current price when ordering.

CubCrafters
www.cubcrafters.com

Top Cub
The Top Cub is the modern successor to the Piper Super Cub. Certified at 2300 pounds gross, a full 550 pounds more than the Piper edition, the Top Cub represents some dramatic improvements in practically every performance parameter. Engine power jumps from 150 to 180 hp, fuel supply increases from 37 to 50 gallons, useful load improves from 767 to 11,00 pounds, baggage capacity leaps to 205 pounds, the gear is now three inches taller, seats are Oregon Aero and the restraint system now complies with the FAA's 26 G rule. You get the idea. Price: $219,935.

Expedition Aircraft
www.expeditionaircraft.com

Found Expedition
A purpose-built airplane, the Expedition has a wide-body fuselage that sports an uncommon four doors for access to its four seats. The cabin spans 52 inches in the aft seats, giving the airplane plenty of space for people, cargo, a moose carcass or whatever else you can imagine. The Expedition's big wing and 315 hp Lycoming engine allow the airplane a useful load in excess of 1,500 pounds and a payload of 900 pounds, plus a cruise of 158 knots in normally aspirated configuration, 170 knots with turbocharging, impressive for a four-seater. Adaptable to bush tires, floats, skis or amphibious operation, the Expedition comes as close as you can come to a go-anywhere, do-anything airplane. A tailwheel version is certified and should be on the market sometime this year. Prices: $565,000 (normally-aspirated); $595,000 (turbo).

Extra Aircraft
www.extraaircraft.com

Extra 300/330
The Extra family of aerobatic aircraft is almost universally regarded as among the most agile, best handling airplanes of their kind. There are a number of varying configurations with mid-wings and low-wings mounted on single seat or two seat fuselages. Horsepower varies from 300 (with the Lycoming AEIO-540 engine) to 315 (Lycoming AEIO-580) with an improved prop, but aerobatic capability remains exceptional with either powerplant. The 300LT is designed specifically for a combination of aerobatics and cross-country travel. All Extras can climb at well over 3,000 fpm and cruise at 170 knots. Prices: 330LT (two-seat touring) $438,000; 330LX (hard- core, two-seat aerobatic) $407,500; 330SC (hard-core single) $428,000; 300L (basic two-seat) $368,500.

Adventure Aircraft

Gipps Aero
www.gippsaero.com

Gipps AV-8 Air Van
This Australian utiliplane can carry eight folks, a combination of cargo and people or pure cargo. This airplane is a workhorse. Two engine options are available on the Airvan, a standard 300 hp IO-540 Lycoming or the same mill mounting an AiResearch TEO-6 turbocharger for 320 hp, both engines driving a Hartzell, three-blade propeller. The wing is a USA35B reminiscent of a Cub airfoil, 208 feet in size. No one is liable to worry much about speed on a Gipps Airvan, but for those keeping track, it's 134 knots. Prices: $699,000 normally aspirated; $729,000 turbocharged.

Maule Air
www.mauleairinc.com

Maule M9-235
Maule Air of Moultrie, Ga., has produced a variety of aircraft in a number of configurations with an assortment of options -- two, four or six seats, engines from 160 to 260 hp, conventional or tricycle gear, oleo or leaf spring suspension, cut down doors and other features. Maule still builds a variety of MX7s and other models sporadically, but the newest product is the M9-235, a taildragger with a 235 hp Lycoming engine. Like most Maules, the M9's primary claim to fame is its impressive useful load, but the airplane boasts other talents, including a 50-foot takeoff distance of 791 feet. Cruise with the big flaps in the reflex position is 137 knots, about the same as a Skylane, but with far more payload and better short field performance. Price: $274,900.

Peterson's Performance Plus
www.katmai-260se.com

King Katmai
This is actually a major STC for the Cessna Skylane, not a production airplane, but the bottom line transforms a 182 into a whole different machine. Innovator Todd Peterson created the King Katmai as a follow-on to his earlier Wren design, another modification intended to reduce runway requirement. Peterson adds a canard out front and the result is a Skylane with superior short field and landing characteristics. The full conversion includes an IO-470F engine, forward canard and extended wings. Price: $101,485.

Waco Aircraft
www.wacoaircraft.com

Great Lakes 2T-1A
Peter Bowers of Classic Aircraft in Battle Creek, Mich., is now offering the latest in a series of revivals of the Great Lakes biplane. The Great Lakes is a pure fun biplane in miniature, flying behind a 180 hp Lycoming AEIO-360 and Hartzell constant speed prop. The original Great Lakes dates back to the 1930s, but the current product from is updated in practically every area. Aerobatic approvals include most standard maneuvers, plus the Great Lakes serves well as a convertible touring machine, covering the sky at 105 knots. Price: $245,000.

Waco YMF5-D
Classic Aircraft has been producing the Waco YMF for a quarter century, and the YMF5-D is the latest iteration with a 300 hp Jacobs radial engine. Predictably, the modern Waco has been upgraded in practically every area, with new, more modern materials and new avionics, but the basic airplane still maintains the same planform and the same two-plus-one configuration, with the pilot flying from the rear. Max fuel is 72 gallons, and at a cruise of 104 knots, you can plan on just under 300 miles between fuel stops. Price: $426,250