It's possible to have a pusher prop at the very rear of a large plane - like this:
Note the huge, long nose that's required to balance it out. The wing can be moved back and forth depending on payload, but mine is still mounted much like this, right at the back, even with cameras and 8000mAh sitting close to the nose.
When the motor is above the wing (like the planes you described, or the Maja), the thrustline is off. This induces pitching moment that is linked to throttle. You can compensate by mixing elevator with throttle, so that you end up with a net neutral pitch. In the case of the Maja, which has a flight controller, I programmed a small fixed mix into the FC, to allow flying it manually. When flying in auto, it just uses the gyros to pull enough elevator to maintain the proper attitude. Without a FC, you can set this mix in your transmitter.
FDS is correct about the takeoff speed, this plane needed a long runway with gear, and now takes a full two-handed pitch to get it airborne as a belly lander. It still wallows badly until it gets up some airspeed. Without the flight controller to run the throttle and level the wings, it used to be a 2-man launch.