Whos In Charge?

I started my lessons (at 50 years old!) at an airport called Howell-New Lenox in Illinois. On my first solo, I had to go around due to a back taxi by another student with his instructor (my first exposure to being PIC in a two-pilot operation. But I was cool; I also learned that I was pretty calm in an abnormal situation-when Im alone.

Editorial Staff

Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The author's first solo flight involved an unexpected go-around, which taught them about being PIC and their calmness in abnormal situations.
An incident during a snowy landing, where the instructor took control without verbal communication, led to a minor nose-in into a snowbank, highlighting the instructor's ultimate responsibility for safety.
Based on these experiences, the author now rigorously practices and insists on the FAA's positive exchange of controls discipline ("Your airplane—my airplane—your airplane") when flying with others.

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A few weeks later, after the runways had been plowed after a recent snow, my instructor and I were on short final when she thought I was not going to stay between the snow banks on the sides of the runway. She took control—but didn’t say anything, so I didn’t relinquish control. We did land on the runway, but on rollout we swerved at the runway intersection and nosed into snowbank. We were at very low speed, so we just pulled the plane out and taxied back to the FBO. No damage—just snow under the cowling.