You're definitely right that the first parts in the airstream suffer the most reentry heating! I would suggest re-entering the plane "belly up" though, as when you nose up normally, the cargo below the plane gets exposed to more heating. If you're upside down though, the wing panels on the top of the plane will shield all your cargo from excessive heating c:
That SSTO is massive!
You're definitely right that the first parts in the airstream suffer the most reentry heating! I would suggest re-entering the plane "belly up" though, as when you nose up normally, the cargo below the plane gets exposed to more heating. If you're upside down though, the wing panels on the top of the plane will shield all your cargo from excessive heating c: