On the Hilbert transform and lacunary directions in the plane

Let $H_k$ be the one dimensional Hilbert transform computed in the direction $(1,2^k)$ in the plane. We show that the maximal operator $\sup_k |H_kf|$ maps $L^p$ of the plane into itself for $1<p<\infty$. The same result with the Hilbert transform replaced by the one dimensional maximal function was proved by Nagel, Stein and Wainger in 1978.