> Not to doubt your story but being a flight instructor myself, I cannot imagine intentionally turning off power to airplane radios at an airport with a control

> Not to doubt your story but being a flight instructor myself, I cannot imagine intentionally turning off power to airplane radios at an airport with a control tower (this is also illegal). You just pre-arrange it with the tower and it's no big deal. Probably exceptions for busy class Cs or Ds, but it's no big deal to any airport near me.