HP14

I owned a HP-14 for 15 years, and got many hundreds of hours of flying in it, including a bunch of XC flying. Sold it because it was damaged (while tied down on the ground, something else hit it) and I didn't want the rebuilding project. Despite roughness in the finish due to age, the glide slope (at lowish speeds) was great, thanks to the span. With a bit of positive flaps it could work the weakest lift. And with plenty of flaps the short field landing ability was great.

But, with my weak back, I personally found the rigging difficult, even after building a device for manipulating the roots. I usually kept it rigged all season. The prospect of a difficult rigging, plus the condition of the aging trailer, made my XC flying rather conservative to avoid landouts. Thus I ended up flying more XC after I switched to a glider with less performance but much easier rigging (Russia AC4).

I should also mention that, despite having adequate tail surfaces etc, the thing never "flew itself", it was hands-on all the time, perhaps due to the mixing of rudder and elevator inputs into the V-tail. And the aileron control forces were a lot heavier than the tail, and roll rate slow. Nothing difficult in the handling, but not quite the friendliness of many glass ships of later design. If you have a strong back, and can get a good trailer for it, then it would be fine.