Should have asked for the option...

[RedAndWhiteBaron]

I'm not worried about this, it's just that I believe in owning and discussing my mistakes.

Well, that sure makes you the minority on this site, where too many slime covered trolls lie in wait to hit you over the head for your mistakes that they would NEVER make. Cause they never, ever made a pilot error.

A room full of frustrated . Yeager wannabes's live here, you know.

Oh I've been hit over the head by more than a few trolls, IRL as well. I've lost job opportunities by being so open about my errors. I once brought down a whole company with a stray stroke of the enter key (funny story that, actually, but beyond the understanding of most non-IT folks). But I'm a hopeless optimist with a very thick skull, and I take (constructive) criticism well.

I see the good in everything and everyone, to the point where people find it annoying. It's my hope that by discussing my errors, people will find some good in them, and I and others can revel in some lessons learned.

[Pilotdaddy]

I agree with the previous poster... you didn't make a mistake. You did as was told and your instructor bears all responsibility for this episode.

[RedAndWhiteBaron]

Legally, yes, as PIC, he does.

But he wasn't flying the plane. I was.

[rookiepilot]

Legally, yes, as PIC, he does.

But he wasn't flying the plane. I was.

I understand your way of thinking, but the other posters are correct. Instructions need to be crystal clear, and it's the PIC's responsibility to coordinate with ATC

I actually got docked on my IFR ride for directly responding to ATC instructions and following them, instead of following the examiners "simulated" ATC instructions. Stupid, but it is what it is, I got docked for inadvertently showing up the examiner (a real tool)

In that case I was PIC, and the examiner should have let me do the ride, follow ATC and kept quiet, as how it (correctly) happened later on my CPL ride, with a different, great examiner.

[RedAndWhiteBaron]

You got docked for refusing to commit a violation? (I assume that it would have been a violation)

Yikes. I would challenge that, on the principle alone.

I mean, put it this way - on that mock test of mine, it was busy enough that we had 200' of separation at times. At one point on approach, we were told to descend to circuit altitude, far earlier than is normal for the approach to YTZ. If my examiner had given me "simulated" instructions to maintain a higher altitude, I would have told him/her to pound sand.