Cross Country

Alone, the prospect of a cross country to Potchefstroom, Rustenburg and Wonderboom is appealing - but getting the chance to fly at night is mouth watering.

If you get such an opportunity, the follow pointers should be taken into consideration: (developed and revised through experience)

• Very High Frequency Omni Directional Radio Range Beacons (more affectionatley known as VORs) are your friends, take the time to culculate their spiky little radials. Do NOT deviate.
  
• Pencils and other useful stationery will surreptitiously loose themselves underneath the seats. They will not want to be found until the yoke is pulled into a 45 degree angle of bank and your cheek is somewhere by your knee.
• 'Restricted Airspace' is, in fact, restricted.
• Not all lights in straight lines mark runways.
• Anticipate being in the air for a long time and never drink too much before departure.
• Johannesburg Information has eyes everywhere.
• 030 degrees is not the same as 300 degrees on the directional indicator.
  

Avoiding these few... lapses in accuracy... usually results in a fair enough flight. Another thing worth noting is the elusiveness of Rustenburg. The runway is marked by scarce, spread-out lights. From the air it looks rather tragic - rather small and missing a few bulbs.