They were a great machine to learn to fly in, fully aerobatic +9 to -3G.
From them, the air force pilots went onto the Harvard / Texan T6, it had more things to worry about, like remembering to put the wheels down.
If a strong enough wind they could be flown backwards,
At one of the training bases when the wind got too strong, they would approach the hanger, reduce the engine power until it was sitting stationary, the troops would run out, grab a handful of wing or tail, and when they were ready the pilot would cut the engine and the troops would carry it into the hanger.
The glue that held the wooden main spar started to let go after about 35 to 40 years so to get a new Cert Of Aviation they had to replace the main spars, not a cheap job. This grounded a lot of them.