Yeah its a bit of a strange feeling when you start open cockpit flying. I remember when I started hangar ratting to help pay for my Licence, I used to get a lot of rides in Tigers and stampes. No matter how much you jacked the seat up there was always that slight movement as you slid in your harness as you went over the top of a loop. Made me pucker every time
My Luton (not all mine, group owned) has a VW 1800. Climbs like the shuttle and cruises like a brick !!
Might well take you up on the Barton visit. But only if you guarantee that no bugger will nick my wheels
(im from liverpool originally so im qualified to say that !!)
Just one piece of advice, if you have a heavy nose, be VERY careful with tailwinds on the ground and be very light with the brakes. Once the tail lifts it can be difficult to stop it.
Drop me an email if you want to chat. Cannt promise to know everything about the luton, but I can tell you about the mistakes I have learnt from !!