Short Final: Someday

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A pilot experienced two consecutive go-arounds while attempting to land at a towered airport, as commercial flights (Delta, then Jet Blue) were cleared to land ahead of them.
  • After finally receiving clearance on the third attempt, the pilot humorously remarked, "I can't wait to be a big boy someday," implying a desire for the priority given to larger aircraft.
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A few years back, we were three miles out from landing at our local towered airport, when we had the following exchange with our local tower:

Tower: “Cirrus 12345, go around. Delta 1234, cleared to land.”

We went around and lined up to land. At what seemed the very last minute, the tower called us again:

Tower: “Cirrus 12345, sorry, go around. Jet Blue 1234, cleared to land.”

On the third try, we were relieved to hear from the tower, “Cirrus 12345, cleared to land.”

Me: “Cirrus 12345, cleared to land. I can’t wait to be a big boy someday.”

Ted Brown

Ossining, NY

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