When I got my first 20A, I was nervous as hell about the spin characteristics
as there had been a whole bunch of spin accidents, world wide. For the first 50
hours I tried to gently provoke her, but she wouldn't depart unless severely
manhandled. After that I settled down and enjoyed the bird. Nothing will climb
like a 20A and those floppy wings, smooth out the ride.
After 10 years or so, I formed the opinion that some 20's would spin at the
drop of a hat and others wouldn't. A friend had a *good* 20, that wouldn't spin
under normal conditions. One day he adjusted the flaps, so that the flaps and
ailerons were all exactly at neutral with the flap handle in zero and the stick
exactly in the middle. You guessed it, after that he had a *bad* 20 that would
spin at the drop of a hat. It could have something to do with the flap
adjustment, but I'm not sure what, because they are flap-erons and move with
the ailerons.
BTW, the accident at Air Sailing was a 20A.
JJ Sinclair