Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.
I expect you're right...as the second pic shows the same model with a bigger tailplane...a 'prettier' solution than the proto's 'afterthought'...The aircraft appearing on the LIFE magazine cover appears to have a twin tail. I don't see any further evidence of another aircraft behind the one in the forefront due to camera angle. It was possibly an early production model.
No, if you drop the bag, then they shoot you !!In post #7 - what's in the bag ? The Norden bomb sight. Hence the two 'tommy gunners" guarding it.
USAAF Curtiss O-52 Owl ?