I base my inclusion of wing loading on several thousand hours flying full scale aircraft. There is no doubt at all that within the same general size, an airplane with a higher wing loading handles gusts better than a similar one with a lighter wing loading. In neither full scale nor model aircraft should you operate close to the stall in turbulent conditions, however in a normal flight regime, the higher wing loading has the advantage. In the typical light aircraft, the maneuvering speed (a structural limit) is lower for the same airplane carrying a lighter load because flight loads in turbulance are greater for the lighter wing loading.