Bill, although I never met Mike in person I felt as though I knew him from his posts here on TradGang. All of us lost a good friend and ardent archer when Mike passed.
John, you can get most any grip on these longbows that you want. The standard grip on them is pretty similar to a BW recurve. You should end up with exactly the same draw length. Regarding performance, let me just say that I don't think you'd be giving up anything at all and you might come out ahead just a tad.
James, I hope we can have at least one or two for folks to try out at Comptons. Better send an e-mail to Dan at the shop in order to put that bug in Larry's ear!