WENAS Returns

Depart Tri-Cities for Yakima from Runway 21R. You filed PSC V298 YKM and got a clearance with, Cleared to the Yakima airport via Tri-Cities 7 then as filed. Climb and maintain 6000. Use real-world weather so the winds are variable for this day. Or, if you must, dial up 800-foot ceilings and a wind out of the southwest. Set the radios, brief your route. Then fire up and taxi out. Assume Towers last words to you were, ...on departure, fly runway heading. Runway 21R, cleared for takeoff.

jwanwest

Monday, January 21, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The article outlines a multi-stage flight simulator challenge designed to enhance instrument flying proficiency at Washington's Tri-Cities (KPSC) and Yakima (KYKM) airports.
It focuses on practicing complex departure and approach procedures, such as the WENAS 7 departure, DME arcs, and various instrument approaches (ILS, VOR, LOC/DME BC-B).
The challenge incorporates realistic emergency scenarios, including instrument failures (e.g., single NAV, lost DME) and engine failure in a twin, emphasizing detailed planning, navigation, and adherence to specific climb gradients and approach criteria.

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Some places get the best names. Take Yakima, WA, for instance: Gromo, Naches, Zilla—that last one is worthy of a Japanese movie monster. Maybe even “Gromo versus ‘Zilla” as Tokyo burns. My inner eight-year-old rejoices, and wants a plate of nachos.

That inner third grader also giggles at Yakima’s Wenas 7 departure, both for the vaguely salacious name and the angst it caused many a hopeful cargo pilot. When I instructed in Seattle, we’d prep pilots going for charter and cargo interviews. A common sim task was the Wenas departure with killer winds that got complicated by an engine failure and a back-course, one-engine return … hmm, sounds like a Sim Challenge.