1) How hard is it to land a tailskid aircraft on a hard surface? i.e. is this advanced 'conventional gear' flying in which case I can perhaps forgive myself for letting it get away? Or do I really need to look at my technique? Conditions were reasonably benign at the time. The Turbulent is known for being quite light on the tailskid so it really doesn't provide anything in the way of an anchor.
2) Will a fully castoring tailwheel give me much more directional control on a hard surface than a tailskid? There are no springs or detents to keep it centered, though presumably as it is trailing it still acts to damp down any divergence better than a skid would do.
In the meanwhile, grass whenever possible...
I can't really answer your question, never having flown a Turbulent with a skid, mine has centering springs to help keep the wheel straight, which moves a little bit with the rudder, too, but as I didn't build the beast I don't know when they were fitted, but I "think" as an afterthought.
I took delivery after about a 45 year gap from having last flown a taildragger, and decided not to take on the crosswind on my airport's hard runway for my first re-acquaintance, so used a very short grass runway more into wind.
I was pleased with my touchdown, which was straight, but then the far hedge began to appear and I experimented with the brakes. My brakes stand up between the rudder pedals and it is easy to apply both brakes with one foot, in fact it is impossible to get both feet on their respective pedals anyway, but of course they are never rigged equally so a turn is induced, this then requires a bit of rudder and brake on the other side, and it is supposed to be possible to apply, say, left rudder and twist the sole of ones' foot onto the left brake pedal at the same time, but of course one overdoes it and so it is off with the left foot and on with the right, over control, change feet, over control again, change feet again etc. until one has the speed under control.
My corkscrew roll out was observed by the CFI of the local flying school, and his opinion that microlight pilots are cowboys - versed in the art of Square Dancing, was confirmed.
I finally got the beast under control and taxied back to the Aero Club, put it away - and had a beer !
My inexpert opinion is that a fixed skid may help you keep straight due to more friction - providing that you are determined to get on the rudders as soon as possible and prevent a groundloop from starting.
Try asking the Tiger Club - they used to be based at Redhill, not sure now, try Google - they have a fleet of Turbulents and I got good advice when I first purchased mine a few years ago and after I had experienced an engine failure on finals, eventually put down to flying the whole circuit with the throttle at idle, being used to 10,000 ft of hard runways I thought I was too high for the short grass runway I had selected, when I applied a bit of throttle to correct a slight downdraft the engine stopped - too cold !! If I close the choke after starting and apply throttle the engine stops, too cold, so had I grabbed a handful of choke I might have got a re-start, but I was too busy flying the aeroplane, successfully, no damage.
Best of luck, I'll be interested in your progress.