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I'm posting this to the General list because it deals with both Vintage and Modern Mooneys. When Pablo Casals was 93 years old he was asked why he continued to practice his cello three hours a day. His reply: "Because I'm beginning to notice some improvement." I've flown my 201 since 1993. I'm on the other side of 1,000 hrs. PIC. I keep at it because I may, in fact, be starting to notice some improvement. But I've led a sheltered life in the sense of flying other Mooney models. No turbos. No 6 cylinder engines. And on the other end, no Johnson bar gear and hydraulic flaps. Well, I rectified one part of that experiential deficiency yesterday. I took my J to the IA for annual, and, to get back, they gave me a 1965 C model with manual gear and hydraulic flaps. It's IFR certified, but with the funky panel and dated avionics, not to mention flying an unfamiliar bird, I'm glad it was good VFR for the return trip. I wondered about the J bar and flaps. Truth be told, it took longer to orient myself to the locations of controls, the operation of the avionics and the panel layout than it did to figure out the gear and flaps. The gurus are correct: if you pay attention to the ASI it's no problem to use the J bar and to avoid lowering flaps at too high an airspeed (this one has the service bulletin c/w to allow a higher flap operating speed). So, with that verbose preface, here's my question: Does plugging this hole in my experience, and going back to the Al Mooney design, now mean that I've finally escaped my cosseted life and become a REAL Mooney pilot, or do I (1) need to fly a whole lot more in the short bodies (or a manual gear F) or (2) need to tame a rip-roaring, twin turbo, I-Eat-Bonanzas-For-Breakfast Acclaim before I can delude myself and think that I'm actually a full-fledged Mooney stud? Vintage guys may have one opinion and big bore dudes may have another. Or is the fact that "If you've flown one Mooney you've flown them all"? [The FAA would tell us that there are only four Mooneys; for present purposes those would be the M20P and the M20T. Bonus points for naming the third and fourth.] Dave Piehler