Ultralights are cool. My dad had one (open cockpit) when I was growing up. If you're mechanically inclined, you can build one from a kit.

I second the parachute notion, by the way. My dad crashed his into a barn on my 1st day of 1st grade. He didn't have a parachute, but he was lucky that he was belted in, and only ended up with some cuts and bruises (and a very much broken plane)