Originally Posted by
Stoked27
...I try turning to the right and he is literally pushing against me without saying anything.
That is freaky. That's not merely scary. You said scary. That's beyond scary. That's freaky territory. That's like walking into an elevator with someone, where you push the 27th floor and they immediately press each button from 1 to 26 while smiling at you in the process. You get 'vectored' to every floor in the meantime. Freaky. I'd get off that elevator at the very next floor and head to another shaft. In a 27 story building, there had better be
another shaft.
Originally Posted by
Stoked27
The culmination was on our final landing rollout when the plane started veering in a direction off centerline. I make a correction, but the instructor was apparently also trying to correct the direction with rudder inputs without saying anything.
Strange. I read something very similar to this. Two pilots, both with good experience under their belts respectively. One pilot (right seat) feels like he's got just a tad bit more experience than the pilot in the left seat. PIC in the left seat flies the approach and lands the airplane. Pilot in the right seat starts applying left rudder. PIC applies right rudder and can't understand why the aircraft is veering left. PIC applies more right rudder but airplane continues to veer left. Airplane goes off the runway and into the infield, bounces around a bit but never hits anything. PIC now standing on the right rudder causes airplane to rip back to the right onto the runway again. Suddenly, PIC has control of the airplane and they taxi off without incident.
Turns out that the more "experienced" pilot in the right seat was also much larger and stronger. He was applying left rudder the entire time that the PIC, who was much smaller could not overcome. The more "experienced" pilot released his left rudder monopoly after the airplane ran off the runway into infield, leaving nothing but maximum right rudder of the PIC, causing the airplane to whip back onto the runway.
Apparently, you were not alone in this "struggle" for control of an aircraft with two pilots on-board. I guess this just lends more weight for the need to have more certified Single Pilots!
Originally Posted by
Stoked27
I asked him why he did that without saying anything. He denied it vehemently until he connected the dots of why I told him to take the flight controls.
Double scary.
Originally Posted by
Stoked27
I won't voluntarily fly with that person again.
LOL, Voluntarily. That's an interesting way to put it. I guess they'll have to march you in front of a firing squad before you fly with him again. Wow.
Originally Posted by
Stoked27
Therefore back to your original question - I don't take for granted the importance of verbal communication anymore. CRM is real even at the lowly PPL level.
Thanks for sharing that scary experience. A bit too freaky for me. I would end the student/instructor relationship as well. You can't learn anything in that kind of environment because you are too busy cleaning your underwear in the flight club's restroom after the flight - given how you badly stained them on the last rollout. Wet pants after a flight lesson does not seem like something to look forward to during your next meeting.