Following all the advice about BP/Ws I read here on SB, I bought a new Dive Rite Classic Wing and a Dive Rite backplate.
Did you dive that wing with single tanks? If so...yikes, wrong tool for the job. Probably a contributor to face-down issues you had at the surface due to the amount of lift, how wide that wing is, and maybe how you had it set up. I have a DR Classic EXP dual bladder wing that I use only with doubles...I'd rather dive a regular BCD than a classic wing on a single tank.
I had some issues (a lot actually) when I first got that wing and dove with my double HP100s & drysuit. I had it too low on the tanks and ended up needing a tail-weight. It took me 4 dives to get it sorted
No, I didn't say that it ticks me off for someone to say they prefer a BCD, I said it ticks me off when they say the BP/W will face plant you. It's simply not a true statement. Heck, I've even inflate the heck out of my wing ( way more then I'd ever have reason to. ) and I didn't get face planted. I just lean back into it a little and it's fine. ( Hopefully you learned how to balance in grade school. ) Properly inflacted to keep me just above the water and you don't even have to balance at all.
The faceplant "myth" is something that is continued by people who don't like BP/W's. It has no basis in fact.
I agree with you that a BP/W rig, when properly configured, shouldn't push a diver face-down at the surface. Key word is properly configured. I've been diving BP/W a long time. I have seen a handful of people new to them have some issues with trim or at the surface which were 100% due to how they had them setup (eg how high the tank is, tank type - AL vs steel, what holes they used to attach the wing to the backplate, etc).
How often are you around people who just got a BP/W and are diving it for the first time? I would bet not many since you just started diving again recently and just got your first BP/W a few months back. Keep in mind that not everyone goes to a pool with an instructor to get their gear dialed in and practice with it like you did, and thus could have easily had a problem.
Anyway....
This is often a pretty heated debate on Scubaboard, but interestingly I didn't hear anyone discussing this while on the Scubaboard invasion a few weeks ago. There were a mix of BP/W and BCD on the boat every day, yet it ever came up. We all must have had something better to do.