Interesting post Gaunty, reads like you think that they would expect to lose one which would surely not be the intention given the bad publicity and if it was being tested for spinning, it would normally have a spin-chute fitted.
Interesting the test pilot was 70 years old. Old and bold.
It would be interesting if the pilot of the Airvan that was lost could post on here to tell us what happened. The story that I heard was that CASA supposedly made them limit control movements, so much so, that exiting a spin became difficult.
HD, can you post something for us, we might learn something?