The nosewheel of ours did not castor at all - it just had a very sharp turn. Makes it easy to make tight turns, but easy to overcontrol and feel unstable. Slightack pressure on the take-off and landing rolls solves the main issue.
The aircraft has a high approach speed and little flap, but will actually land in a short space. I had a student land it in 300m on wet grass on his first landing away from a large piece of tarmac, and could personally land in about 200-250m on tarmac. It is not suitable for rough fields with the spats, though. I also always got better performance T/O, climb and cruise speed than I did from a 152.
I disagree with Daysleeper - the stalling is far from viceless! At certain fuel loadings it drops the right wing really nicely in the power-on stall. Very good demonstration! Hot starts we never found a serious issue - just a slight nuissance.
Only consistent maintenance issue we had was electrical - kept blowing the strobe, replacement bulbs hard to get.