On a project like this, you can waste a lot of time testing things that aren't really a big deal. Engineers are like that; they want to cover every possibility and do testing on every little thing to determine for themselves what they like the best. Good engineers learn from the past experiences of others and trust it so they can spend their time on the answers that no one has figured out yet. You guys have some major issues with your airframe design, so worry about that. We're telling you how the two gears behave, so listen to us. You're talking about a substantial structural change to go from trike to taildragger, so you're going to probably wind up with another airframe revision just for that. Set it up as a trike and give it a wide stance so it rolls well. The best ground handling model I've ever flown is my Kaos, so have a look at the wheel width and get close to that. A close second is my Ugly Stick which does happen to be a taildragger. One issue though that none of us regular RC pilots have to deal with though is that you're going to abuse your front wheel a lot. A Fultz nose gear would be a very good idea, and make your firewall nice and beefy with some good reinforcement. Nose wheels on models are notorious for bending and tearing out firewalls when models are landed on the nose, and I imagine that's about the same amount of stress you're going to be putting on yours.