From Rustenburg towards Pretoria one has a Fl110 , 3300m ASL, 1700m ATO ceiling.
West of Rustenburg town center on can go to FL 195, 5900m ASL
Rustenburg got multiple flying sites
- Eagles Nest faces West or East
- Wigwam . Faces NW. and one has to walk up the last bit , 70m up.
- LeopardsRock. Private site. Contact Gys van der Niet, faces W to NW
to a 270m high takeoff. West takeoff easy 
East Take off is a bit more shallow 
and has no more landing left 
W side landing is an open
easy to land field. 
Pub, camping, is located on the W side.
On arrival report to the Pub and pay your site fees.
Road to the top is 4x4 only and very worn out. Sharp rocks tend to slice tyres.
Based on the experience we had over the past weekend with
the
Emergency Response and arrangements with Andre's accident, I would
like to highlight what to do in the case of an emergency.
Assuming that the pilot/patient does not have some sort of
Helicopter
EVAC insurance:
The best number to dial is ER24. They have their call
centre IN
Rustenburg Area.
The number is: 0861 789 911
(If pilot has Helivac or other membership, obviously dial
that
number..)
(The problem with many of the other numbers (incl. 082911)
is that
their call centres are somewhere in Gauteng, so you end up having to
relay information to the driver etc.) (NOt sure how this affects
Discovery members...)
PLEASE make sure that you mention "Eagle's Nest or At
se Gat" Do NOT
MENTION RIETVLEI as there are about 70000 Rietvlei's in South Africa
and the major confusion starts with the fact that the next town,
Swartruggens also has a Rietvlei area...
MAke sure that you provide your cell number to the dispatcher.
Do not assume that the medical response team has a 4x4
vehicle.
Make sure that one vehicle drives to the normal Access Road to meet
the ambulance at the Eagle's nest turn-off at the tar road.
It is a good idea to drop off the ambulance at the bar and take the
medical personnel up in a 4x4. (If ambulance is not 4x4)
The bar is then used as the point to which the patient(s) is evacuated
to.
If you have been waiting on the hill for more than 30
minutes, phone
again and again untill you see the ambulance.
The incident over last weekend saw the ambulance driving
all the way
to Moedwil before turning around.
Never assume that the driver knows where he should go untill you SEE
him.
IF the patient stops breathing or is unconscious, you HAVE to do your
best to get a helicopter on the scene. It does NOT matter if an
ambulance is on the way. From experience with numerous accidents on
this site, it is CLEAR that the BEST case recovery by car will take
about an hour from the time the ambulance arrives at the foot of the
hill.
The weekend was again an eye opener. To give a short
timeline:
10:30 Accident occured.
Hennie and myself arrived at about 11:15.
About 11:20 we realised that the ambulance was lost.
We drove down the hill and waited at the Tar road.
The ambulance arrived at about 11:36
We then proceeded to the Bar where we loaded the medics + equipment.
They arrived on top between 12:10 and 12:20.
This is 1hours 40mins after the accident!
So the first medical care Andre and his patient received occurred
then.
The step from Medic on site to ARRIVAL AT Ferncrest HOspital took
another hour.
The ambulance arrived at the hospital at 13:28
Kumbagana Game reserve
www.skybirds.co.za
Plenty of places in Rustenburg
Hiking and rock pools in the Magaliesberg and Sparkling waters
Magaliesberg Canopy Tours 014 535 0150, 10 slides , 2.5 hours
Sun City
or Thabazimbi area
Subject: A very good flight indeed
Created on 17 Oct 2000 19:40:16
Posted By Itamar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi to all of you
I would like to thank all those who have emailed me to congratulate me on my 134 km flight from Rustenburg on Sunday.
For those asking for more details - I am already working on a new story about the flight. It will take me around four months or so... (perfectionist, maybe, but if you liked my previous stories - well, that's the way I write them).
John flew 133 kms on Saturday breaking my record. I was really happy to hear about it and I told him so when we met on Sunday morning. No records last for ever, and I don't feel like a record-holding person; it just doesn't suit me.
So, setting off on my flight I really had no intentions to snatch back my record. And the sky didn't look record-breaking sky either: white, inverted, hazy, high pressure system and no wind or thermals at Take-Off.
Once we managed to take-off, I thought I'd just stay around and stick with the gaggle. I also wanted to help Marijke by marking thermals for her. After all, she deserved it: she was the one to find the one and only thermal which enabled us to climb out.
I stayed with Marijke all the way to Koster, where I finally lost her, and continued with a red (white trailing edge) Freex, working beautifully together as a professional team. I don't know who he was but we managed to help each other along for quite a while.
It was only after I broke my personal record of 112 km that I started to consider breaking John's new record of 133 km. So I stopped hugging the tar-road, turned my back to the wind and ran for it. The kms moved fast on my GPS, 130... 131... 132... 133 and I was still 100m above the ground. Then - 134, and I turned into the wind to land.
Immediately I realised my mistake. After you pass 100 km the GPS stops giving the increments of hundreds of meters. So although I knew I had passed the 134 mark I didn't know by how much, and now having turned back into the wind to land, I was afraid I would fly back into the 133rd km.
I didn't. When I landed my GPS still showed 134. At home checking
the
distance with GARtrip, the distance (with increments) was 134.01
km!!!!!
So that is the story of my flight. Oh, yes - and it was done on a "Baby's Glider", a Standard class Apco Allegra. They give you all the performance you need, you know, and you don't have to sacrifice your own safety.
Itamar
=========================
Subject: Re: [Skybirds] Fly Africa .....
Created on 11 Feb 2002 18:53:06
From: Ulf Arndt
To: skybirds@smartgroups.com
Subject: [Skybirds] Fly Africa .....
My 104km flight story never made it to this list.
In short, opted to land on a dusty soccer pitch in a township.
What triggered off a human tidal wave. You land , and then thousands
of people keep surging towards you.
Now I know what it is like to be famous and the masses love you.
Not
for me ...
Yesterday I opted to land past the Carousel in the most remote area
possible.
A 5km big open field surrounded by kms of bush.
If someone is looking for a winching spot, have a look at the site.
So I landed at 17.00, SMS'ed my landing coords off to Ken and Marijke,
and
gave them some directions over the Cell.
Took my time in packing up, assuming the recovery would figure out
somehow
how to get to me.
At sunset I get a call that they can not get to me. I am inside of
a game
reserve. Big game fence and locked gates.
They give me their GPS coords, 4km away, and with sunset I head off
towards
them. Only to get stopped by one fence, and another, and another...
And finally I am at a big 3m high game fence and the recovery is still
2km
ahead on the other side, also blocked by the same fence.
( Does a very big fence mean that there are some big cats kept inside
..?)
Recovery tries to find another route that gets them closer to me. I
start
walking along the fence. An hour later we figure out that we are now
4km
apart from each other. I turn around, heading back, it is pitch dark
by
now. But none of the tracks goes straight towards the recovery vehicle
position.
1.6km is the closest I can get towards them then the track starts
turning
away from their position.
My radio has gone flat, my GPS goes low. Its 21.00 by now. Cellphone
batteries are still holding.
I give the recovery my coords and we decide that I stay put and Ken
figures
out how to get towards me.
21.30 Ken has located me, and he guides me back towards the car. 22.00
I am
finally at the recovery vehicle. And I get home after 1.00.
Coming home, my dogs lick my legs. They never did that before.
I wonder if they love the sweaty salt or because they noticed my
scratched
legs and try to comfort me.
It took me about 4.5 hours to fly 118km , and also around 4.5 hours
and a
10km walk to get out of the place.
http://www.ready.noaa.gov/ready2-bin/main.pl?Lat=-25.64&Lon=27.18