Very true... on the Eastern prop aircraft there's also no white/green arc, etc.. So combine the Km/h, Meters for altitude/descent, Millimeters of manifold pressure, centigrade temperatures, and an 'upside down' attitude indicator, and a DG that operates opposite of what you normally find in Western aircraft.. it can be really confusing. The mixture also goes aft for rich and forward for lean (made that way for shutdown).

Also as with the older MiGs the brakes operate pnuematically, so an air leak.. which is common.. may mean no brakes.. you constantly have to remember to check your air guage before landing - the gear/flap extention will use air also.. so it may use the rest of the residual air, leaving no brakes - but in that case you can crack your emergency air bottle. It's just weird trying to remember all of that air stuff at first.

USMCFLYR:

When refering to the 'old-style' - I think they made a lot of changes when from the Mig-21 to the -23. So pre-Mig-21 would be the "old style" (sorta made that up)

'course the L-39 shares some of the old style stuff in regards to the taxi. But the nose wheel steering is something found on the -23 and later.. The attitude indicator became a little easier to read IHMO.. with it being all black instead of the 'brown on top, blue on bottom'

I've heard the transition from a Yak-52 to an early Mig is pretty easy to a point (depending on the MiG)