Aaah! I never could figure it out until I saw a working model (of just the nose gear) at the Air Force Museum in Dayton. It was one of those push-button thingies set up in a kiosk next the the museum's display Hustler. As the gear retracts, it folds in (roughly) the middle; the top section continues to fold aft, while the bottom section folds forward and misses the nose of the weapon pod. The result is the nose gear folded upon itself in the gear well. Ingenious!