Forward movement is ground speed. Ground speed isn't a part of any lift equations because it's got nothing to do with the flight of the airplane. Lift comes from the velocity over or against the lifting surfaces, which you mention as prop wash. Prop wash isn't usually anywhere close to laminar. It's almost always helical (curling around, heading aft). So.... there can't be much lift if there's hardly any forward movement The sucker isn't falling, so it's obvious that forward movement has little or nothing to do with the problem.

Wing area can be small or not, if it's "enough" and that also depends on the wing loading. And the prop can be large or small so long as it's operating in it's rpm range efficiently. And the sucker isn't falling, so the wing area is proving to be perfectly adequate and the prop is proving beyond question to be more than sufficient to not only fly the airplane but to "helicopter" it as well.

As for getting lift from vortexes......... Vortexes are not producers of energy. They are produced by energy. The energy comes from somewhere else and has already done a lot of work, some of which most would assume was to generate the lift that is being described as not possible.