Shortround6
Major General
Elvis
I'm not sure how you'd get that to work, there is an awful lot of aeroplane behind the main landing gear on the P-37 and even if you did somehow persuade it to keep its nose gear on the ground, where would the nose gear fold into?
Have a look at the P-37 in profile in Aviation Pictures/Curtiss P-40 Pictorial History, it really is a non-starter.
The pilot's lack of view while taxying was something that prop job drivers just learned to live with, sure, there were tails chewed off the guy in front and worse but by and large, they coped with it.
Another problem with long noses is deflection shooting. If both planes are turning and the pursuer has to "lead" the target there is only so much lead that can be applied before the target disappears below the nose.
Bell had also schemed a "model 3" a little earlier than the Aircobra (the model 4). imagine an Aircobra with the engine move forward but still leaving room for a 25mm cannon in front with the pilot sitting not only behind the engine but behind the trailing edge of the wing.
The state of the art in turbo installations in 1939-40-41 was actually pretty dismal. Lots of potential when things worked right but too often they didn't and minor problems, like way higher than estimated drag, caused the potential not to be realised for a while longer.
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