According to Google translate (so it must be true) the literal translation if vrille is gimlet. Couple of them'l get ya in a spin.lol
In a book I have by Doug Campbell his description of what he referred to as a vrille sounded a lot like a spin. I believe his words went something like "the world was whirling by at a tremendous rate and there was a rapid loss of altitude". I have read a lot about the 94th Areo Squadron and have several books with (supposed) first hand accounts of combats and the vrille was used as a break away maneuver when one needed to shake a foe that had the advantage.
Doc