fw 190a5 flight model

[Glider]

Its something that is probably easier to say than do. The Size of the control surfaces clearly has a bearing on this. However, make them smaller and the plane loses some of its agility. Change the config and you have to change the wing design with obvious complexities. Change the gearing and the aircraft will handle differently in particular the secondary control effects.
Its a big change and I was wrong to imply in my previous posting that it was straightforward.

The basic design of the Spit wing didn't change until the Mk20 right at the end of the war. The P47 until the H again at the end of the war, The Fw 190 until the Ta 152 again at the end of the war. The only front line fighter that I can think of that significantly changed its wing design early in the war was the Me109 F in 1940.

My main point was that the force needed to change the controls does impact the planes ability to turn at high speed. Sabru Saki made the observation that a lot of the suicide pilots who just missed their targets when diving in a Zero, probably were unable to move the controls because of how they locked up at speed.