A185 with TSIO-520 + Robertson STOL
I was at the Cessna factory in Wichita in 1978, and managed to have a look inside a 185 fitted with a turbo'd 520 engine and it was also full Robby STOL. It was reportedly being used in the backblocks of Idaho - which is full of short strips at mod-high altitudes. Reckon it would have been the goods in PNG.
Short-coupled/long coupled?
Most frightening taildragger I've ever flown was a Taylorcraft of about 1990 vintage? No flaps and very twitchy. Close behind that was a C152 Texas Taildragger, which I once owned....but not for long...300 hrs! It was a mongrel for directional control- possibly because in the conversions it was easy to mount the gear leg so the wheels were in a 'toe out' position. I finally damaged it rather severely and converted it back to tricycle confign. Flew both the M5-210 Maules, VH-EMY and EMA, back in the 60's when they were imported to Brisbane and never thought they were a problem for dirn control.
Round rudder/square rudder?
I was told that the old classic round rudder Cessnas were that way because it gave the most leverage for the least profile. On a C170 that I owned for 12 years, it was the case that you became aileron limited long before rudder...more or less the opposite of a Cub. The longer fuselages of the older classic Cessnas would have also helped with rudder command - as noted by Chuck in an earlier post.
My Choice of Model?
The early model 180's, (180,180A,180B from 53-59), with the 'cutaway' lower engine cowling were,in my humble opinion, the fastest and best balanced of the lot. The panel was a dogs breakfast, but the aircraft trimmed out beautifully and were less likely to be overloaded to aft out-of-trim.
happy days,