RVDT,
Early fuselages were made by Beechcraft and Agusta, many with more flush rivets. On "low" (really standard) skids with fairings you could see an extra 4 knots. At low weights, could be better than that. Pedals are working just like I like them
Keeping an eye on the temps becomes second nature with the c18. That being said i am really never loaded much and rarely get about 2500ft so it's all good. 80% gives plenty of speed and reasonable fuel economy.
I will try and keep it running as long as possible.
Rick