But, most aircraft spins are gentle manoeuvres
They are? You could have fooled me! How many aircraft have you let develop into a full spin?
I have never been heavily into the aerobatic thing but was thinking about what aircraft I have spun: C150 Aerobat/C152, PA38, Victa, Tiger Moth and Blanik glider. I would only describe the last two as anywhere near "gentle"!
During my stint in NZ, we used to regularly spin the PA38, which often rolled on its back before entering a spin - hardly a gentle manoevre. Admittedly it gave lots of warning before it bit you - but then it bit hard. If you blundered into a spin turning final in a PA38, I suspect you would die - even if you were well trained in spins.
The C150 takes a while to wind up in a fully developed spin, but when it does it is pointed what seems like straight at the ground and has a high rate of rotation. Tends to get the adrenaline flowing even when you know what it is gonna do. Admittedly you have to hold pro-spin controls to get there - and close the throttle, let go of the wheel and centre the ball and it will sort itself out.
While I am an advocate for basic aerobatic training for all, mainly to build confidence in what you can do with an aeroplane and what the aeroplane can do with you, I don't think spin training will stop people spinning out on turns onto final or during climb-out. They are the result of poor aircraft handling - ie crap piloting!
The V-tail Bonanza, the original Fork-tailed Doctor Killer, gives lots of warning of an impending stall in the landing config - then departs from normal flight quite vigorously - some might even say violently. If it happend at 500' in the turn onto final, a well tuned arobatic/spin trained pilot might recover in time - but I suspect a change of undies would be in order after the event!
I have never flown a Cirrus, and can't say I have any great desire to do so, but I suspect that 99% of Cirrus accidents are due to poor piloting/decision making - not the aeroplane itself.
Dr 