If noseheel firmly on ground and steering is HELD central (using the pilot's tiller), weathercocking can be stopped, but this can only be used at taxiing speeds. [If the pilot takes his/her hand off the tiller, or relaxes feet on the rudder pedals, the nosewheel will be free to castor - and the aeroplane is free to weathercock.] Rudder-fine-steering, if you have it, helps at speeds up to 60 - 80 kts. Above that speed the directional control of the nosewheel(s) cannot be relied upon, and trying to use tiller-steering can be lethal. So on take-off the prime directional control is by aerodynamic rudder, mainly opposite to the crosswind.
So... on speeds above 60...80 knots IAS, aerodynamic forces become effective. On taxi speeds, nosewheel steering can stop weathercocking.
How is a tricycle aircraft kept on a runway in strong crosswinds at speeds above taxi speeds but below the speeds where rudder becomes effective?
Also, how do tandem landing gear planes handle weathercocking? Rotation is not an option, and they have a high angle of incidence.
(2) Drift and sideslip should work in a more similar manner.
(2) Not sure what you mean. Sideslip must not be confused with drift.
I meant that when an airplane is completely in air and no landing gear extended, it should fly the same way whether it was retracted tricycle gear, retracted taildragger gear, retracted tandem gear or a flying boat with no landing gear at all.
When the landing gear is extended, it would start affecting drag, sideslip and yaw behaviour. But it is only when the gears touch down that they become the major control of bank and pitch attitude.
As for weathercocking: do B-2 planes, with no fin and rudder at all, weathercock in crosswinds?