The reduction in size of the horizontal stabiliser (versus the DC10 to save weight) has been discussed at length on this forum together with the electronics that were supposed to compensate. Given the regularity of landing accidents one wonders what went on during the original flight testing. I cannot believe the test pilots had no inkling.
Then again I know people who flew the diva (as she is sometimes called over here) without incident for years and were very surprised by the statistics showing the amazing difference in accidents between the MD11 and similar jets. I remember being ridiculed for highlighting this disparity on Pprune some time ago, until a very helpful gentleman from Finland pointed out that the statistics were published by Boeing, who have no interest in trying to make the MD11 look bad, as they took over the company.