The following happened in mid - '00s. (Has anyone decided on a proper name for the decade 2000-2009 yet?)
Me: recently soloed glider pilot. English as a second language. Not very familiar with the British accent.
Glider: K-13. Wood, tube and fabric.
I still need a check flight with an instructor to fly solo on any given day. And there we are, me in the front, her in the back, ready for a winch launch.
We take off. I gradually transition to a full climb and fly with the nose pointing 45 degrees up. I am pretty happy with my performance so far.
The variometer is going crazy, the winch wire is singing, and there is the usual wind noise. Over all of this I suddenly hear:
"<Unintelligible> <unintelligible> CONTROL!"
Oh darn. I messed up somehow. She wants to take control. Who am I to object? I take my hand off the stick.
We keep on climbing.
"Left wing low", says she.
Huh?
"Left wing LOW"
Must be my cue to take control. I grab the stick, level the wings and - being at the top of the launch - release.
"Didn't you see that the left wing was low?"
"I did... but you were flying"
"WHAT?"
"You said 'I have control', didn't you?"
"I said 'Don't bend the pole', you were climbing too steeply!"
What did I learn? Three-stage control exchange ("I have control/You have control/I have control") is a great idea. Two-stage is the absolute minimum.
Also, that a training glider will quite happily fly a passable winch launch with no human intervention.
Bart