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I have a silly question: my dad got his private pilot a few years back and in watching him I learned is that, even with engine failure, pilots train to be able to glide the aircraft safely. On a Cessna 150 this is purely mechanical.

In this case, how does the pilot have control to be able to land in a field in the case of engine failure?

(Not a pilot myself, so pardon the naive question!)

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Following their answer in another comment, you don't; aircraft turns into a useless brick and you pull the parachute and hope for the best.

Well, not exactly. In case of an engine failure, the system still has power from the batteries to control the actuator and glide the plane (in fact, it will automatically switch to flying at the best glide speed to extend it's range) to a safe landing, whether it's at an airport or in a field. But if you are over some trees, mountains, or somewhere else where a landing is impossible (which is a problem in today's planes too) the parachute is a final backup. the parachute is also the backup in case of a complete system failure

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