Thanks for your vote of confidence Glenn, no doubt PG will let us know
As for precedence of the two designs I cannot unfortunately find my history of Seversky/Republic at the moment, but I think, like many manufacturers (De H and Hawker especially in the UK) that once Republic found a predictable shape they would stick with it. I think if you go back as far as the P35ish the empennage will look familiar.
Regards
Kb