I flew a '46 C140 the other day. "Flying" it there was no real difference between flying it, a C152 or a C172 (apart from the power obviously), so I agree that during the actual airborne flying you wouldn't notice a whole lot of difference.
I didn't land it as I didn't own it, but I got the distinct impression that on the ground it was a lot more of a handful than a tricycle and that it was on a mission to fling us over.
As the saying goes:
In a tricycle, you thank god when you land. In a tail dragger, you thank god when you take off
