mcoulter

I'm not sure if you'll find "treed" in the dictionary, but I think most of you know what I'm talking 'bout.

First of all I'm quite new to flying. This is my 1st plane and I've really enjoyed jumping into the sport. Not long ago I decided to start bringing in the plane to work with me so I could sneak a flight or two in before going to the office. This particular day I wanted to return to a field what was great for flying.... however the groundskeeper kicked me out to a secondary field not quite as big. [>:]

I decided to go for it (yes I'm new at this).

The plane was not up for more than a minute when a stiff breeze brought me over a tree line [X(] I **almost** got it back to my side of the tree line when I went the wrong way on the throttle and it lost a bit of altitude and nailed a tree. I now know that this tree was an Eastern Cottonwood, which apparently is "[link=http://www.treehelp.com/trees/poplar/poplar-types-eastern-cottonwood.asp]one of the largest eastern hardwoods[/link]".... Yeah it was every bit as big as the 75 to 100 ft it's alleged to grow. And my plane was right at the very top.

At the time it seemed like a good idea to use the prop to try to blow it out of the tree. Well I just managed to wrap a ton of leaves and small branches around it -- basically ensuring that it would weather a hurricane before blowing down. So here I am, I gotta leave for the office and I'm seeing my $100 flapping in the breeze at the top of a tree. Let's just say I'm a little distracted at work thinking about how to get my toy back. Here's what I did over lunch...

-- The branch that my plane is hanging from is about 100' off the ground, it's too big to shake, it's too small to climb out on... I gotta find a saw.

-- No saw at work, but lots of computers. Hey, there's a cemetery between the field and work. Let's stop there and beg 'n borrow

-- I get my borrowed saw and head off to the field during my lunch break. Thankfully this tree is an easy climb. I guess it's my "lucky" day today, huh?

-- 45 minutes of sawing with a bow saw (you know how badly they want to pinch when cutting?) and several rest breaks so I can snap pix with my phone later I'm just about through the branch

-- Wait!!! What the heck am I thinking??? My plane is hanging UNDER the branch!!! Well I have no other choice other than to finish the cut and hope I can recover enough pieces to build the plane again....

-- Crack!

-- I'm the luckiest guy in the world. The branch comes down nice and slow stopping (would you believe it?) in a spot where my skyfly is left hanging 2 feet off the ground? Once I get the branches untwisted from the prop I see that other than the broken wing (which was already on it's last legs...) it came out unscathed!

My "lucky" day

TankHunter

My Feedback: (1)

wow now that is loyalty to a plane and the sport...alittle ironic getting a saw from a cemitary to get your dead plane backwell just keep on trying and good job

ps tha was one BIG branch to cut with a bowsaw..

mcoulter

Thanks for pointing out the irony... I never saw it that way before.

bosco777

My skyfly is at the top of a tree right now. I bought the plane on my lunch break today. I have a nitro boat, and a nitro touring car, and I thought I could teach myself to fly. I was doing pretty good until I tried to land. The controls are pretty slow (not that that's a bad thing, but I had to really turn wide to line it up for the runway.) The battery seemed to be getting low, and the controls got even slower. I had a bad angle, so I pulled up to make another circle. Bad idea... It started heading toward the trees and I didn't have much altitude. I gave it full throttle, and pulled back on the stick. I don't know if it just didn't have enough power, or if I stalled out. Anyhow, it just wound up in the treetop. Luckily it's only about 35 feet high. I found an old skinny tree on the ground, but it was only about 30 feet long. The tree it was in was just a little too thick to shake it all the way out. The tree had no branches, and I can't shimmy anymore. The tree next to it had branches, but it was covered with thorns. I tried and tried to throw the small tree at it, but I ran out of daylight. Tomorrow I'm going to go back with my stepladder and my bowsaw. Hopefully mine will come down unscathed also.

bosco

RaceCity

mcoulter...

Glad you got your plane back. I'm curious though. Who's tree were you cutting up? Unless I missed something here, I didn't read where a property owner gave you permission to damage his tree to recover your plane.

I'd encourage you to join a local r/c club. There are lots of them throughout NY, and most have plenty of room to fly without the risk of planting your model in a tree assuming a modicum of flying skill.

Damaging property does NOT do the hobby any good. There's no other way to put it, and you can rest assured that model flying activities will be prompty barred from that location once the damage is discovered.

Don't lose any more potential flying sites for your friends. Please. They're getting hard to come by.

Jim C.

yeah especially after this.... I have to side with racecity on this one..... I reread the thread 2 times for this info.... this is my question also.

AMEN

bosco777

I got my plane out of the tree this morning. I didn't have to cut anything. I just used the ladder to get me up in the tree, then used the really long stick to nudge the skyfly. There was virtually no damage. Two little nicks in the wing that can be taped up, and a broken $5 foam rudder. I think I'm gonna ask for help at the local club before I try to fly again.

bosco

RaceCity

Good idea!

JD380

My Feedback: (133)

Cutting on a tree that is not yours to get a $100 (or any amount) plane down is not cool.[sm=48_48.gif]
I can fully understand wanting to get you plane down ASAP, but you should of talked with the property owner and discussed other possible methods of retrevial.

ArmedZagi

My Feedback: (1)

Radio interference put my glider in the top of a 60'+ pecan tree several years ago. It was just hanging by a twig but it was jammed in there GOOD... What did I do? Why I shot the limb off with a .22 rifle only took 5 or 6 shots with the thing blowing around in the breeze... Anyway the plane effeciently turned into toothpicks as it hit every large branch on the way down. Rebuilt and still flying ever since I got it in 4th grade.

Did have to completly cut down a tree to get my Zagi back through. Got interesting when the chainsaw got wedged in the trunk. Had to use a come-along to finish pulling it over. ...Yes, trees and me don't get along well when I'm flying.

mcoulter

Wow, I feel like a heel now that all of you had shed a different perspective on this. For what it's worth the tree was NOT mine, but it was buried in a tree line and the branch that came down was NOT visible from the field. [&o]

I'll take this opportunity to tell everyone that getting your plane down is NOT more important than keeping good relations with the general community! (Especially a SkyFly...)

I also ride off-road (dirt bikes) and find myself extrememly critical of those who take their personal fun as being more important than the public's general impression of the sport and those who particiapte in it... Do I feel like a bone-head after re-reading this post? YUP. And I do hope that others DON'T take it into their own hands to retrieve their plane the way I did. I guess I got "lucky".

Thanks to all those more seasoned flyers who've put a different perspective on this for me.