Short Final: Hyperdrive

One night the Potomac Approach frequency was not very congested. I overheard a pilot talking with the controller about his impending arrival at an outlying airport just at the tower’s 9 p.m. close.

Pilot: “I think they’ll be closed by the time I get there.”

Potomac Approach: “I don’t know. You might just make it.”

Pilot: “I don’t think so. Not unless I put it into hyperdrive.”

Potomac Approach (responding immediately): “That’s approved.”

Sometimes the controllers have a wonderful sense of humor.

Reid Ashe
Winston‑Salem, North Carolina