Don't be too worried about heel brakes vs. toe brakes... I've come to realize that heel brakes get a "bad rap" within the taildragger community, in much the same way that taildraggers do in the nosedragger community. And I suspect it mostly comes from people who haven't flown with them – or at least not much.

I was probably as nervous about learning to use the heel brakes in my '65 7ECA (O-200 power, and with oleo gear) as I was about everything else involved in the tailwheel transition combined... I have a lot of time in Grumman Travelers and Tigers, and in SportCruiser LSAs – all airplanes that have castering nose wheels and use differential toe-brakes for directional control, so the "toe-brake" thing is (or so I thought) firmly ingrained into me... But when I started the tailwheel endorsement training, my CFI had me taxi around for about a half-hour, learning to position the stick properly as we turned to different angles of wind, using the brakes very minimally, and by the time we finished that exercise, I was (much to my surprise) very comfortable with the heel brakes. They've never been an issue since. I have grown to really like them, and I kind of wish I had installed heel brakes in the Bearhawk Patrol that I'm building.

Good luck in your search, and I hope you enjoy whatever you decide to purchase.

Not directly answering your question, but I have a 185, but I go on a couple of backcountry trips each year with two buddies who have Huskies. I'm just about convinced they are one of the best all around airplanes ever built. They're fast enough (120-130 mph) that on a three hour leg, I will land, fuel the 185, and as I'm pushing it away from the pumps, my buddies arrive. They have lots of baggage space, good avionics and carry a lot of gas. If I fit better (I'm 6'5" tall), I'd consider one. I don't, and I need room for the family so I have the Cessna, which of course means I get all the special camping requests (buckets of ice, kegs, generators, etc.).

Cannon wrote: I have the Cessna, which of course means I get all the special camping requests (buckets of ice, kegs, generators, etc.).

Ha! I took advantage of a 185 owner (Prosaria) on our AK trip this year in the same way.

"Hmm, that's a little heavy. Let's have Prosaria carry it."