Spidey,
sorry to go back to Ollies' DVD but before he begins to tie the fly he has a 10 minute yap about the birth of the fly, and how his personal tying of the fly has evolved through various conversations with Mr Van Klinkerhoffen himself.
He states that the hackle when complete sits in a concave manner thus lower in the water, as you stated previously. I'd assume that this is a result of tying the hackle in 'outside facing down' rather than any effect of variations in the wing post diameter.
Also he states that floatant (Dilly Wax in his case) is applied to the wing post only, not to the hackle (although I bet he does in reality if the bugger starts sinking!) and that the poly-yarn does the lions share of keeping the fly afloat.