I have the Seagull Spacewalker II and after some teething problems am finally getting to enjoy flying it. I'm using a Magnum 40 with a 10/6 APC prop.

Initially the CG was off and I didn't have the throws set quite right. This resulted in an extremely wild ride and crash landing on my maiden flight. So I moved the CG a bit further forward that suggested in the manual to about 7cm back from the leading edge. Note that as an aesthetic and practical choice I'm not using the cowl (which is gorgeous by itself but would look ugly hacked up, IMHO).

As far as its flight characteristics, I say that once you get the CG and throws (I bought a meter and placed them exactly as stated in the manual: ailerons 3/16, elevator 3/8, rudder 1) set, this plane flies is a suitable second plane after a trainer. It is however faster and heavier. In for, it's probably an ideal second plan for someone hoping to move into Warbirds. It has no unpleasant stall tendencies and is reasonably aerobatic -- certainly as aerobatic as any second plane pilot would want it to be. And its STRONG! Due to my limited piloting abilities, I now have a crash to flight ratio with this plane of 4:7, that is 4 crashes in 7 flights. The first was a crash landing due to misplaced CG and a crosswind which tore out the landing gear. The second was another crash landing after a deadstick which tore off the wing. The third crash was on takeoff with a wingtip caught some tall reeds along the edge of the field - again tearing the wing off. And the last one (yesterday) the plane went down in a stand of bamboo after a deadstick on final approach. What is worth noting here that in each case the model required only minor repairs with the wing and fuse completely undamaged!

Regarding take offs, yes, taildraggers are tougher to get going straight. I converted my trainer to a taildragger early on in my learning and have never looked back. I doubt I'll ever have a model with nose gear again -- what a pain THAT is! What I tend to do is start off fairly slowly until the plane is rolling straight for the first 10 feet or so and then go heavy on the throttle fairly quickly. You do have to stear with the rudder -- and be ready to use ailerons particularly on a field like mine with a light crosswind. With its thick fuse profile I would imagine that the SWII will have a strong tendency to weathervane in the wind.