forever and be able to take off and land on my own without fear of it taking control again?
Never used it, or supercruise assist for that matter, and can't help there. But what the gents above advised seems about right.
As to the quoted bit, I like the cut of your jib.
I don't want to deny these aids to those who want or need them. Whatever floats (or lands) your boat. For me though, the part of the game I called portside operations -- that is landing, leaving the pad, entering, navigating and exiting the station -- is one of the best parts of Elite. It never gets old, even as automatic as it's become. In a related matter I've flown flight sims for many moons, and in sims like Falcon 4 I always make it a point not only to land the jet, but to navigate the taxiways and park it in a revetment or hardened shelter, shut down the engine, install the chocks and raise the canopy. Other players just exit before needing to do any of that. And for me they are skipping something that makes the sim better.
So when I see a post like this of a player, especially a new player like the OP, looking to take this on instead of letting a module handle it I support it. Good hunting commander and welcome to the boards.