[QUOTE=Lead Balloon;10512536]
If I undergo a flight review as a private pilot in my own aircraft, I don’t “authorise” the ATO or FE, or whatever they are called this week, to do anything....
.... If I am in fact PIC I am in charge and nobody is supervising and nobody has authority to intervene to override my decisions and activities..../QUOTE]
Actually, you do authorise the examiner as PIC, and that person does have authority to over ride decisions etc. You acknowledge this when you accept the briefing, which should always include the standard hand-over/ take-over mantra required in any flight test.
If the examiner does not include that in the briefing, time to dust off the FEH.