RE: Reducing the surface area of the wings for going faster?
Of course the other way to make this thing go faster is to increase the span. Longer wing equals higher aspect ratio, which means less drag, and lowering the wing loading means that you can fly at a lower angle of attack, again less drag. And the most efficient way of going faster is to reduce drag, increasing power is a poor way of going faster, ideally you need to do both for maximum gain.
Evan, WB #12.