A question for you DAR - how did you deal with the unrecoverable spin risk in those PA28s. I can guess what I might have done,
Well I'm going to have to hang my hat on the expectation that a certified aircraft (which is "very experienced" in service) will not be subject to an unrecoverable spin. It is a design requirements that all certified single engine aircraft be able to be recovered from a spin:
"(iii) It must be impossible to obtain unrecoverable spins with any use of the flight or engine power controls either at the entry into or during the spin"
So it's up to me to have the skill - and altitude! - to do it. The Caravan at full aft C of G was the most worrying, but it came out perfectly well.I mitigate risk by working up to the most rigorous spins in stages, observing changed behaviour along the way. If a recovery does not seem to be happening, I'd be adding power, but I have never had to do that.
I was required to show for the "...or engine controls..." portion of the foregoing requirement once in being told by the regulator to enter spins with 75% power on in a Lake Amphibian, which I was testing for an increased power engine. As I expected, against the engine torque, it would not even enter. With the torque, the result was predictably something like a snap roll (even with the slow deceleration entry). I decided that this type of aircraft should not be doing snap rolls, so I did not do it again! It was un-nerving looking forward at the horizon - upside down - with full rudder and nose up applied! It was time to recover right then! It came out very nicely - Lakes spin beautifully, if you do it power off!
nothing really nasty happening until 11% above Vne, or until 50% above the g limit
Yes but.... In each case, you are assured that a certified plane will remain flyable within those limits. However, you are not assured that at G between 100% and 150% you won't have some damage. Up to 110% of Vne, you are not going to hurt the plane, as long as you are very gentle on the controls, and do not hit turbulence. I have seen the wings of a Cessna 180 which were badly wrinkled outboard of the struts as a result of a careless jump pilot spinning it down through a cloud after the jumpers left.
I was faced with this decision (which has to be made very quickly!) in the Caravan spins. I did not have to exceed Vne and 2.8 G (with 3.5 being the limit), but it was looking like I might have to for a moment. I would rather have exceeded Vne a bit, than got to 3.5 or more G. Once at that high load factor, a bit of turbulence could be very bad.
All that said, I do not like spinning planes. I regularly spin spin approved planes for my proficiency, but other than that, I spin only as required for the testing work I do, and then in accordance with an approved test plan, precautions, and no more than I need to to achieve the objective.