Yakima Valley
WPA Newsletter
January 2009
Volume 2009 Issue 1
Yakima Valley WPA Newsletter, 901 N. Conestoga Blvd., Yakima WA, 98908
http://www.wpaflys.org/Chapters/Yakima/yakimachapte r.html, email - [email protected]
(509) 966-5300
President’s Message
Dennis Klingele
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1
President’s Message
2
Meetings & Information for
Members
3
Happenings at McAllister
Field
4
Heaven and Hell - Part II
8
Who’s Who and What’s Up
8
Editor’s Notes
Happy New Year!!!!
The Yakima Valley WPA Chapter along with the EAA 206 Chapter
shared a wonderful Christmas Dinner meeting at the Yakima Airpark
last month, December the 11th. Many thanks go to host Tom and
Sue McMahon and all of the helpers who made it a wonderful night
out. The Hangar looked great and it was a full house.
Our next meeting will be this Thursday, JANUARY 8th at
Barnstormers, starting at approximately 6:30 PM with dinner at 7
PM. See you there.
This January meeting will be the second Thursday of January, the
8th, (not the first as usual), so please mark your new 2009
calendar(s), and we will elect 2009 officers at that meeting. To
minimize the awkward moments of one being asked to fill a vacant
position on the occasion of attending this meeting, we have
gathered a full slate of candidates willing to serve for the 2009
board regular positions, and will be happy to include any
volunteers/nominations for anyone interested.
Yakima WPA Chapter President Dennis
Klingele and his wife, Doreen..
We, as in last year’s meetings, still have some samples of WPA items
that can be purchased on the State WPA (www.wpaflys.org)
website. The really cool part is that you can order them with your
name or airplane N number engraved on your shirt or hat. The
samples will continue to be on display at our future 2009 meetings,
so come and take a look. While you’re at the WPA Web site, be
sure to click on membership and pay your 2009 dues, if you haven’t
already. If you would rather pay your dues in person at the
meeting, that is also OK. Either way, please just do it! “It's the
right thing to do,” and remember, the WPA membership rewards
(Please see President’s Message on page 2)
Yakima Valley WPA Newsletter
Page 2
Meetings & Information for Members
Editor
The January meeting will be the second Thursday of January, the 8th,
(not the first as usual), so please mark your new 2009 calendar(s), and
we will elect new officers at that meeting.
WPA Mission Statement
“To advance the
interests of general
aviation in Washington
State through advocacy,
outreach, education and
social activities.”
The joint WPA/EAA
Christmas dinner will be
Thursday, January 8th;
6:30 social hour and
7 P.M. dinner at
Barnstormer’s.
______
At this meeting we will
elect new officers for
2009.
The WPA 2009 membership drive is underway. Later this month you
may see an email or an invoice from the State WPA. You may see
correspondence from your local chapter. You may get a phone call...
Or you may want to go to our, your website, www.wpaflys.org and join
on-line . . . click on the button you see above “Join or Renew On-line,
Today.” If you elect to use the website, and we encourage you to do
so, know that the information you provide (excluding Credit Card Data)
is shared with your selected chapter.
(President’s Message from page 1)
program is continuing to grow, making the real cost of membership
minimal or not at all.
As always, please don't hesitate to call any of your WPA board if you
have any ideas, concerns, or such. They will always be happy to do
their best for you.
This is my last “President’s Message”. It has been a real honor and a
lot of fun to be your President this last year. Thanks to all of you for
your support of WPA, especially the Yakima Valley Chapter. Let’s all
do our best to make 2009 a really fun year with GA.
Take Care,
Dennis Klingele
Yakima Valley WPA Newsletter
Page 3
Happenings at McAllister Field
Les Flue
The Airport Board has narrowed the search for a new Airport
Manager to three finalists. We had received 25 applications,
and after reviewing the qualifications of all applicants, the
following are being invited to interviews:
•
•
•
Jennifer Grunest, a senior vice president for U.S. Bank in Portland. Prior to coming to U.S.
Bank in 1996, she worked for several airports in California. She has a degree in aviation
management from San Jose State University’s School of Engineering and is currently enrolled
in an online program to earn a master’s degree in strategic planning of critical
infrastructures from the University of Washington.
Michael Redmond served as chief operating officer of Western Recreational Vehicles in
Yakima for several months before the company closed its doors earlier this year. Prior to
coming to Yakima, he worked as a business executive and engineer in several companies in
Washington and California, including working as a chief engineer for Boeing in Renton. He
has a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dennis Wiss has worked as the airport director for the Show Low Regional Airport in Show
Low, Ariz., since 1999. During his tenure, he was named "Airport Manager of the Year" by the
Arizona Airports Association in 2004, and the Show Low Regional Airport was recognized as
the 2007 Arizona Airport of the Year. Before that, he worked in operations and management
positions at several airports across the country including St. Louis, Des Moines, Iowa, and
Grand Junction, Colo. Wiss, who is accredited with the American Association of Airport
Executives, has a master's degree in aeronautical science and aviation management from
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Interviews are scheduled for January 27. In addition to interviewing with the airport board,
airport staff will be providing them a tour of the airport and its facilities and introducing them
to tenants during the morning. Interviews will start at 10:00 a.m. The Airport Board will host
an open house so that the candidates can interact with the local aviation community and city
and county officials.
Yakima Valley WPA Newsletter
Page 4
Heaven and Hell (part two)
“Exploration, Determination, Liberation”
Joel Weyhe
In the North there are fewer options. At
least that’s the way it seems to me. The
wider the landscape, the narrower the path.
And as it happens, as in years past, I am
sitting on an almost deserted island facing
the open ocean, wandering around a
deserted commercial airport, in the sun,
looking at a perfectly good airplane (mine)
and completely stuck here. I’ve got the
combo to the terminal building when I want
to get in (a good plan B in the event of the
sudden appearance of packs of wolves), but
there’s not much to do inside. Just halls, the
old flight service office (I can remember
when they used to have a warm body tucked
in there) the waiting area, baggage claim and
everything else that goes along with a real
airport, although miniaturized for Prince
Rupert’s use. Sun’s not down yet…time to
kill.
I carry with me a bicycle, folding chair,
sleeping bag, cooking gear and a little box I
use as a table. What I don’t carry is any
electronic entertainments, so it is very quiet
on this beautiful evening in the North. In
spite of it being Digby, it was a nice little
dinner under the wing (Stilton cheese, dry
salami, sliced tomatoes with bread and olive
oil) paired with a nice little wine.
After dark, for entertainment, I walked the
entire length of the runway, quite a walk,
humming tunes and feeling pretty good (I
had won The Lottery, remember?) No cry of
a lonely wolf (not to make too light of this
wolf thing… many years ago while rowing our
boats to Alaska up this coast, we were
camped on Kennedy Island where I did
indeed hear the cries of wolves in the night.
You can see Kennedy Island from Digby.)
Big Water
It’s Day Two, one day too many. Although the
forecast for Ketchikan (PAKT) was not a real
good one; showers, areas of rain, ceilings 1000
to 1500 feet in areas, visibility marginal in
areas, it was nothing I wasn’t used to dealing
with in Southeast Alaska. But at this point in
my flying career, I’ve come to hate dealing
with it. I do have a few rules. Fifteen hundred
feet and five miles is one of them, but you just
don’t know what’s out there. Weather
reporting points are few so if you’re going to
get anywhere around here, and the departure
and arrival airports are ok, you need to take a
look at the situation yourself.
Exploration
Ok then, the weather is not a show stopper at
PAKT. Reading between the lines, it sounds a
lot like your typically crappy day in S.E. Alaska
(I’ve got this refrigerator magnet with a
depiction of the Alaska weather map and all its
zones of crappy weather…it’s a hoot). Here on
Digby Island, B.C., finally loaded with gas, it’s
fine with a mid-range ceiling and good
horizontal visibility. I’m off.
continued on next page
Page 5
Yakima Valley WPA Newsletter
Dixon Entrance is another one of those
intimidating bodies of Big Water. It’s not as big
as Queen Charlotte Sound, but it is Big. On one
flight long ago, with low ceilings but good
visibility, I had to cross it at 900 feet (the term
“had to” here is another woeful tale). You’d
think that you could just follow the eastern
“shore” so as not to just be hanging out there in
the middle, water all around, and no land in
sight. But on that day, you’d be wrong. As the
overcast neared land, it came right down to the
surf-pounded rocks.
But back to this day in Dixon Entrance. There’s
no wind today, and the ocean is smooth. I can
stay comfortably close to land now (though
you’ve got to be kind of crazy to be comfortable
being close to that land). Oh look. There’s your
typical Northwest coast salmon troller out in the
middle of the Big Water. He doesn’t care much
about visibility, just the wind. Closing in on the
Alaska border now, and I’m trying to see with
my x-ray vision into the lowering gloom that is
on the other side of it. Rats. Sure as hell. It
looks truly crummy up there. But I need to take
a closer look. I’ve seen glimmers on the other
side of gloom like this.
In Dirty Weather, I keep my head on a swivel to
see what’s sneaking up on me. I especially keep
my eye on what’s going on behind me. You can
detect a trend that way. If the trend begins to
take on the look of what’s out ahead, then it’s
probably getting close to time to make a
decision. If nothing much seems to be
happening back there, then you can lavish more
attention to what’s going on out the windscreen.
And now, what’s going on in front is definitely
not good, and it’s getting worse. I’m down to
500 feet and I can see that before long, another
step down will be required. Ok, time to go back.
Almost a half a tank of gas burned on this effort.
And piling insult on top of injury, it’s still a
decent day on Digby (a relative term).
Determination
Ok, a quick lunch back on Digby and time to try
again. Uh-oh. I really want to get there now.
In addition to the required call to Nav Canada,
this time I used some calling card I had to talk
to the FSS in Ketchikan. According to them, the
visibility was Ok, normal rainy weather.
Ketchikan is an amazing beehive of floatplane
activity right there next to the airport, so when
they tell me that it’s basically VFR, and I can
hear for myself over their phone all those
Beavers, Otters, 185’s and 206’s buzzing around,
I can believe them. So all the Dirty Weather I
have to deal with is lurking south of them and
north of me. Pilot reports on this international
leg are few. While there are lots of airplanes
flying on the B.C. coast and in S.E. Alaska, there
never are many of them that cross the border…
or want to talk about it. There are no weather
reporting points along there either. I may need
to work a little harder this time… pay a little
more attention, consider alternate routes, etc.
Anyway, by now I’ll bet that some of that scud
has cleared out a bit and so, I’m off!
Murky air and low to the water. At least I’m on
the Alaska side now, and not that far from PAKT.
I can hear the harbor float plane traffic on their
frequency. It’s scratchy but I can hear them.
Better not set my watch back an hour just yet.
Is it a little bit lighter ahead? The devil has
continued on next page
Leaving Digby, and arriving Digby, and
leaving Digby, and …
Yakima Valley WPA Newsletter
taken up position on my shoulder at this point.
Where the hell did he come from? The bugger
was telling me “go ahead! Sure, it looks really
crummy up ahead but we know that there is
good air just around that point, we can sort of
see that it’s lighter behind it… see? you can do
it!” The Bugger.
That brighter-light-on-the-other-side magnet is
sucking me deeper into the gloom and
lower…very low. This is a lot of work. I’ve got a
beach in sight still. What was the name of that
particular island again? No map reading possible
now. Look, there’s its eastern point, so just get
around that. Look behind me…hum, not a good
trend. The cone of visibility is indefinite and
shrinking. Now wait a minute. What happens
when I get around the point and it’s just as
crummy there as it is here. That would not be
good.
The Devil is quiet now. He is just going to let
me do this to myself I guess. Ok, that’s enough.
Time for a 180, and don’t let the wingtip touch
the water. At least in this part of the world,
there are no cell phone towers in these channels
to worry about.
Oh joy. Here I am, flying into Digby for more
gas. Having poked my head further in it this
time and with the weather peek-a-boo zigzags
And it only gets worse.
Page 6
I’ve done, it’s going to be at least a half a
tank this time. But, I should be happy the
weather there is still decent VFR, and I am.
That fishing boat I keep passing over out
there must be wondering why I’m doing this.
He knows it’s the same plane because there
are not too many Christmas-green Citabrias
flying low around these parts. More to the
point, today there are NO planes flying
around these parts.
Liberation
They say that you should avoid the 3rd try at
something that’s critical, hoping to succeed
that time. I generally subscribe to that, but
my DNA seems to be more wired to the view
that the 3rd try is a throwaway try…an
admission that it’s not going to work anyway.
It’s a liberating frame of mind. Fill ‘er up.
I’m so tired of checking weather I could spit.
And they all seem to know me by now, both
Nav Canada and the FSS people. They don’t
come out and say it but you can kind of hear
it in their voices: “Maybe you don’t really to
want try this again.” But I left the devil back
on Digby this time. I’m just going to see
what’s changed out there. Sort of a
recreation flight. I know I’ll be back, so don’t
shut down that gas pump. Right frame of
mind now, so I’m off!
This is going to be just another flight over
Dixon Entrance (the 3rd today). But this time
I see a lot of darkness out to the west over
the ocean that wasn’t there on the way in
from my last foray, nor was it apparent from
the ground either. This bit of un-forecast
nastiness is, as these fronts will do, moving
east (i.e., broadside to my route) so I will
only have so much time to get this business
done. How fast do you suppose that thing is
moving my way? I may not be smart enough
to be sitting on the ground, but I am smart
enough to figure out that I’m not going to
get as far as I did on my Determination Flight
Page 7
Yakima Valley WPA Newsletter
a couple hours ago and get back in a relaxed
manner. There’s the salmon troller again. A
floating, fishing checkpoint. What is he doing
way out here alone in the gloom anyway?
The islands are getting fuzzy now again. It’s a
generally darker grey scene than before, but
plenty light enough to see whatever it is I’m
looking for. There’s the Alaska border up ahead,
and if you ask me, it looks as dismal as ever.
Ok, time’s up, turn around.
Yes! The final defeat. I don’t have to do this
any more. Now it’s a race to beat the Dark
Front to Digby. I’ve got about 45 minutes to go.
Uh-oh, slight miscalculation here. By just
looking down at what had been smooth water all
day, it’s obvious that the Dark Front has thrown
a stiff headwind at me. More speed would be
nice. Flooring this buggy is not going to do
much more than produce a bigger gas bill, so I’ll
do that. That guy in the troller must be getting
tired of all this.
It’s fairly heavy rain now. Still ten miles out, but
I can see the twinkle of the approach lights in
the rain-plastered windscreen. Who turned
those on? Even though I’ve seen hardly a soul
all day, methinks I’m being watched. This
squall is producing a goodly breeze. If there
were someone new to aviation in the plane with
me, he couldn’t help but notice the nice crab
angle I’ve got going here. I have a couple
minutes now before the guaranteed exciting
landing, so it’s time to take a picture. I can
compare it with the one I took on the sunny
approach yesterday (another bad habit). Good
landing. I didn’t know this airplane had so many
water leaks. There is standing water
everywhere with little waves on their surface.
After a day like this, I’m easily amused.
So the squall has passed and I could do this yet
again, but I’m not. The Devil is nowhere to be
seen now and something tells me that I’ve used
up all my chits.
Capitulation
(Exploration, Determination, Liberation = Strike 1,
Strike 2, Strike 3)
I really needed to get back to work the next day, if
for no other reason than to pay my gas bill. Even if
you’ve chosen to go commercially, it’s a real
operation to get from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan
and then to Juneau. Here’s the drill: if the gods
are smiling, you can catch that elusive ferry off
Digby to Rupert; if you’ve really been a good boy,
there may be an Alaska Marine Highways ferry in
Rupert to take you to Ketchikan. Arriving at that
ferry terminal, look off the port side and see PAKT
on the other side of the channel; which means
another little ferry to get to it. Then, jump on a jet
and voila! Juneau.
On the next decent weather weekend, reverse this
procedure and voila! you’re on Digby again (this is a
24-hour one-way process, I’ve got it down).
Now on the renewed flight in the Christmas Citabria,
in the FSS in Ketchikan, they seemed very curious
to see me. Knowing me by my tail number, they
were anxious to fill me in on the conditions that day
the week before. Although it was VFR on the field
most of that day, between it and the border the
weather had stayed a Determined Killer for quite a
bit longer after I gave up. In the effort, I made
necessary decisions and I made wrong decisions,
and it took a lot of gas and time to arrive at the
right decision.
So, the answer to my friend’s question could have
been, Yes, you can do it in one day in an 80 knot
plane, but probably not…even if you win The
Lottery.
Yakima Valley WPA Newsletter
Page 8
Editor’s Notes
For those members to whom we’re sending a
printed Newsletter, if you would like to receive
this Newsletter via email, and save us some
time and money, please let the Editor know
what your email address is…or if you have been
looking to get one via email but haven’t been,
it’s possible that we don’t have a good address
for you.
(Mike and Tammy, I lost yours after getting it
from you.)
Who’s Who and What’s Up
Yakima Chapter Officers:
Heaven in the Horse Heavens
J. Weyhe
Vice President - Les Flue (509) 952-2376
Website: The WPA state website may be found at
http://www.wpaflys.org, and the Yakima Chapter
site at www.wpaflys.org/Chapters/Yakima/
Treasurer - Mike Bull (509) 949-1530
yakimachapter.html
President - Dennis Klingele (509) 966-5300
Secretary – Jim Wikstrom (509) 965-3630
Newsletter Editor - Joel Weyhe (509) 966-1686
Webmaster – Les Flue (509) 952-2376
News & Info: Send articles and important pilot
information for publication to the editor –>
[email protected] or by mail, if
necessary, to Joel Weyhe, 901 N. Conestoga
Blvd. Yakima, WA, 98908.
Meeting Notice: The next meeting and election of
officers will be held January 8th at 6:30 p.m. at
Barnstormer’s in Yakima Air Terminal.
Important Contact Info:
WPA President – John Dobson (360) 898-2319
PYKM Airport Manager – (509) 575-6159
EAA Chapter 206 – Stu Copland (509) 965-1209
McAllister Museum – (509) 457-4933
Mid-Columbia 99s – Monica Weyhe (509) 966-1686
FSS – 1-800-WX-BRIEF
ASOS PYKM – (509) 248-1502
Yakima Valley WPA Newsletter
901 N. Conestoga Blvd.
Yakima, WA 98908
Phone:
(509) 966-1686
Fax:
None yet
E-mail:
[email protected]
Newsletter Date: The next newsletter should ship
sometime in early February, with a little luck.