Hummingfrog,
Spins, and your trepidation. My only real claim to any type of airmanship comes from 500 hours of solo gliding. The run up to that solo flying involved many dual checks, and annual checks throughout, all culminating in spin recovery. I survived the tests, I have to say, I never, intentionally (nor unintentionally actually) put a glider in to a spin whilst solo. I suppose when learning to fly to fight, and hopefully to survive, a pilot would need to test his own mettle on that front. Respect to your father and his fortitude in "going for it".
Smudge
