Supermarine Scorpion - the sting is in the tail!

[steelpillow]

Not /that/ much weight to compensate for. The Merlins and props soon started to get heavier, and moving the lump ever further forward to make room for superchargers didn't help. Bars of lead in the tail became the norm. Replacing them with a tail-end Charlie would not make much difference. Looks as if his .303 was balanced out by moving the cockpit forwards a foot. You could chop the bottom of the rudder off, late-Seafire/Seafang style, to give it a field of fire - the tip has already been extended for you, too!

Fore those who don't know but might care, the nose pipework of the Type 305 was for the awful, steam-cooled Goshawk engine that the Spit was originally planned to have: the leading-edge D-box was designed to be the steam condenser. Now there's a Whiff to tantalise!