On Monday, September 21, 2015 at 3:45:09 PM UTC-4, George Haeh wrote:
The spoiler handle hangs down from a
horizontal rod and rotates freely. To use
it you normally rotate it counterclockwise
about 90°.

The gear handle sticks straight up lower
down and rotates clockwise just enough
to get out of the stop.

AS seems to have put effort in designing
decent ergonomics, but dehydration and
unfamiliarity with type can trump that.

There was an over run accident some years ago involving a CFI-G in an ASW-24. The spoilers never came out. Later, it was concluded that the pilot was pulling on the release handle (a bit like an early 1-26!).

Schleicher cockpit ergonomics are wonderful. In the 20, the gear, flap and spoiler handles are all on the left and use the same shape grip, but the controls feel and move in completely different ways. So when an accident like this happens, suspicions tend toward pilot incapacitation as the root cause. The ASW-24 example shows that moving the gear handle to the right side of the cockpit isn't a completely effective solution.

Back in my student days, some
instructors told me to look at the spoilers
on the downwind check. If you're moving
the correct handle you will see them
move.

We teach this. One part of the exercise is to discover what "1/2 spoilers" (determined by looking at the spoilers) requires in terms of control position and effort (varies by glider type). This thread illustrates another reason to do it.

Evan Ludeman