Re the original subject, a gentleman by name
John S. Denker has written a fascinating lot about almost every aspect of how aircraft fly here:
Welcome to Av8n.com. There is a long section on Angle of Attack Stability, Trim, and Spiral Dives here:
6 Angle of Attack Stability, Trim, and Spiral Dives (av8n.com). He discusses something called
decalage which I think is about ensuring that the tailplane normally has a smaller angle of attack than the wings. Would be interesting to hear some of you experts comment on this, and how relates to earlier explanations here!