I think that some folks got it right on the money
when they say that flapped ships are just different.
At some flap deflection (maybe 20, 30, 45 deg) the
wing may be better than 0 flap for floating down the
runway. So 0 flap or 90 flap may be great
for landing while something in between may cause
lots of floating.

Seems to make sense intellectually, but may take a little
getting used to. I'm glad someone mentioned
the PIK-20, we have one at our club and we
have a newer pilot getting used to it, but things
were quite different from the Blanik (our only flapped
trainer).

I was always under the impression that Fowler flaps
reduced stall speed, but didn't think plain flaps
did much other than just add drag. On the
Katana, AA-1 Grumman, and Tomahawk (all power planes)
they seem to do nothing but add drag. Interesting
to hear these experiences, and I'll certainly
look at the next HP I come across more carefully.

As far as V-tails go, anything to reduce wetted area
is good, right? ;-P