Too many times we have read thread in forums about how its easier to fly a trike than a tail dragger, how to land a tail dragger etc. Sorry to sound blunt but this is hogwash. Both handle about the same other than planes like Cubs or on a windy day. On a calm day I find that the take off or landing for a WM SkyRaider II or something like a WM T34 Mentor is about the same. The pull to the left is more pronounced in a tail dragger but not by much.

When landing a trike I still flare, same for a tail dragger. When taking off I will rotate her after a roll out ... same for both. As for ineffective rudder on tail draggers, this is so interesting to me. I for one have never noticed that. When the tail lifts off, I am pretty sure that the air speed + prop wash has more air traveling over the V stab than when you are trying to taxi her on the ground. So how come it can be ineffective when taking off compared to taxiing?

Newbies are being fed stories about the Bogeyman, so they look under their beds each night. I think this makes things harder for them. When we fly we really do not care what our fingers are doing, we want to control the plane only. Make it do what we want. That is all we care. A tail dragger is not much different from a trike at all. I seen so many newbies who fly from trike to tail draggers without any problem and that is because no one fed them stores about the Bogeyman. Those who ask about it ... well they are psychologically challenged, is not their lack of skill but they peek under the bed.