On my 40th birthday, I took an "orientation" lesson in a 172. The instructor did the taxi out and takeoff, then when we were level, he said "The plane is yours, go that way!" He had his hands off the controls for the rest of the flight, right up until the turn from base onto final. At that point, he took over and landed, then let me taxi until we got to the parking area.
Now if I can just figure out a way to beat that on my 50th, I'll be OK - but I am NOT going to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!