BTW, I have several hundred hours "in the goo" in many aircraft but
mostly
Bonanzas. I can handle it too, but I don't kid myself - my risks would
be
lower in a fixed-gear 182.

Why would that be so?

Look up the fatal accident rates of fixed-gear Cherokee Sixes/Saratogas vs.
retractable-gear Lances/Saratogas. The airplanes are essentially identical
except for the landing gear. The rate of the retract is about double. Both
airplanes go out of control in clouds but the fixed-gears are more
forgiving.

Let's let this go. I have no interest in arguing over something that is
widely known and accepted.

- Mark