"swag" writes:

[...] When the gear came out, the increased drag caused a loss of
airspeed, and I dropped below "blue line" for a short while. That's
not really a problem in the 337, but if I had been in a conventional
light twin, that might have been disastrous. [...]

You are probably mixing up the red (Vmc) & blue (Vyse) lines. Still,
neither is that bad if one has some altitude to spare and avoids being
hamfisted with the throttle.

- FChE