Plane Catcher Tree
06-22-2005, 02:03 PM
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Plane Catcher Tree
I was flying my Hobbico Superstar 40 (trainer, OS .46AX, Futaba) at the flying field yesterday after recently quailfying. The first flight went well with good passes and landings. The second flight was going even better until I started feeling "froggie" and started doing tight, short passes with the engine at idle to practice deadsticks. I lost depth perception with one of two trees near the perimeter and flew the thing right into the very top. It lodged into a mass of small branches and vines. I tried for an hour to retrieve it with the flying field club ladder (shaking the tree, etc.). It was just too high and the tree unsafe to climb. To make things worse I ran out of time and had to leave it due to a commitment. I was disappointed to say the least as I drove out of the field hoping the wind would knock it down and maybe a club member would return it. As I was about 3 miles down the road I spotted a power line crew with two of those bucket type trucks. I asked the foreman if he would be willing to use one of his trucks to help retrieve the plane ($ talks!). He agreed and 30 minutes later I was standing with my model in hand. It hit level with power to idle. The fuselage was basically undamaged (hairline vert. stab crack)and the motor runs as good as new. The wing broke in half right at the midpoint and I had two branch holes on each side of the wing between ribs. All in all it is very repairable. I look at it as a chance to remove the dihedral and change to wing to nylon bolts instead of rubber bands. I got my first crash over with and the aircraft is very repairable. I will post before, after and post repair pictures later. Happy flying to all...
Cheers,
SLFlt
Cheers,
SLFlt
06-23-2005, 10:26 PM
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RE: Plane Catcher Tree
What kind of trees were they? Must be the same species as the ones at our field, they really like trainers especially. Welcome to the club and the order of the branch.
06-24-2005, 11:35 AM
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RE: Plane Catcher Tree
I am not sure of the type of tree but I was quite frustrated when it was lodged in branches too small to climb and chocked with vine. The only way that airplane was going to come down was someone pulling it down with a bucket truck or a hurricane. To make matters worse the tree and the plane was very visable as you drive down the driveway to our flying field. It would have been a monument to my poor depth perception for weeks. I would have heard about it for weeks. The cost to get it down was worth it at twice the price! Currently a co-worker is repairing the wing while I travel for work. I better buy him some good cigars!
