Michael schrieb:

managed to stall a plane inadvertently and completely unexpectedly at
100 kts pointing straight down (coming off the back side of a loop).
I think that did much more to prepare me for the unexpected spin than
any amount of training could have.

Voluntarily executing a spin (1, 2, 3, there we go, yahoo!) is one
thing. But suddenly seeing nothing in front of oneself except some
blurry rotating green is a completely different story. I've learnt this
during my second aerobatics camp.

All the basic stuff was mastered, including spins in all kind of
configurations. So spins were pretty SOP, one should think. Then came my
first flight in a Fox (I'm talking gliders here). A half flick to
inverted, followed by a half loop downwards. Obviously there was still
some slip present, because suddenly, at 45 degrees pitch, just where the
G load starts to build, that pretty landscape in front of me disappeared
and all I saw was a blurry, undefined and rotating green disc.

Surprize, I can tell you! One second or even two went by before I
understood what was going on. Maybe another second to recognize to wich
side the disc was rotating. And maybe a third second to sort out which
foot to use.

The actual recovery then was a non event, and I succeeded even to hit
the axis. But since that experience I strongly believe that the usual
spin demonstration (1,2,3, yank that stick back and stomp onto the
pedal) is pretty much useless to prepare a pilot for that accidental spin.