A further update, Raytheon performed 229 spins in the Baron in the late 1990s'. This validated the recovery technique in the POH and confirmed "no undue tendency to spin from a wings level unaccelerated stall" (the required standard of the day) The communique is condensed but essentially where spins were initiated with one powerplant at flight idle and the other wide open, and they were left that way for at least 270 degrees of rotation, an unrecoverable spin could develop.
I cant find much more detail but it looks like 2 out of the first 95 spins performed needed the spin chute to recover so you guys were right, not good handling at all (albeit while being grossly mishandled).
Bottom line is it's never a good idea to step outside the POH.
PS I think the guy who did this testing could stake a valid claim in that Dream Job thread elsewhere!
Last edited by Fred Gassit; 1st Dec 2008 at 12:36.