re Vne, I was always told it is much better to exceed Vne in a straight dive than pull hard on the controls to avoid the overspeed. At Vne you are already some way above Vmo so the likelyhood of something falling off when you pull hard on the stick is much higher.
JBGA
Without doubt it is far better to be taught to avoid stalls, spins, spiral dives etc.
One thing I have found out in aviation is these things come up and bite you when you least expect them to.
In a previous post i explained how I nearly landed a twin gear up probably 2 feet from hitting the props yet I had it well ingrained to avoid that ever happening.
Luckely in that situation I reacted like lighting.
It is when we are distracted or dealing with other problems that the big one happens and as with the stall, spin, spiral situation. Although we may be taught to avoid till the cows come home there may come a time when we need the knowledge and skills of actually having experienced those conditions.
As you said you are glad of the training and I am sure there cannot be an arguement that a pilot so trained is not better equipt should the full thing ever happen to him no matter how unlikely.
Regarding VNE dives and I am talking about a situation where there is high speed and not a lot of airspace to recover in dropping the gear (if you have it
can save your life.
Pace