BPF
If the student gets into a spin they have to be stupid times 3. They let the aircraft get into slow flight and did nothing, then they let the aircraft stall and did nothing, then they let the aircraft yaw after it stalled and did nothing. I find it hard to believe that after letting the situation so totally deteriorate they are suddenly going to snap to attention and apply the correct anti spin control.
Usually these things happen because the pilot is distracted or hits overload and basically cannot handle a situation which is out of his or the aircrafts limits.
Yes they do something stupid or act stupid.
If we look at the overload situation there was a great study carried out on overload!
One of the biggest defences against getting into overload is familiarity i.e. being so familiar and knowledgeable about ALL handling traits of the aircraft and its systems then very little brain power is needed to fly the aircraft! That releases a lot of mental power to deal with the situation which has lead to overload.
Ie your overload tolerance becomes higher.
secondly being familiar with ALL the handling traits in and out of the box will mean that the pilot will react instinctively and use less mental capacity in rectifying the situation.
An already stressed pilot faced with being in something like a spin who is not well trained and instinctive in recovery and identification of that spin or not even know if he is in a spin or spiral dive will be in unknown territory and hence in a high overload situation i.e. he is far far more likely to freeze at the controls or use incorrect recovery procedures.
The fact that he is only partially trained is itself a stress factor as then fear of the unknown comes into play! We had a thread started by such a student who was scared of stalls because his mind ran riot on what might happen if he messed up stall recovery on his own and got into unknown territory
The fully trained pilot is far more likely not to get into overload while the partially trained pilot will overload much quicker and more easily.
Teaching avoidance is only part of the training of that pilot and he is ill equipt to deal with things he is not trained in.
I would personally trim out some of the PPL requirements to make way for 3 hrs of aerobatic training with a suitable aerobatic aircraft and an aerobatic qualified instructor maybe just prior to the long cross countries
BPF btw I always read your posts with interest and take in your views with respect as I do with certain other posters here
Pace