Since Santa brought my 13 year old son a Firebird Commander, we have both been out on calm mornings learning how to fly it, and are pretty good now. A couple of weeks ago we acquired a Wing Dragon 3 ch RTF and last weekend went out to the large sports grounds of a local high school to get to grips with having elevators to control now. We ran the Wing Dragon 7-cell batteries out, and before going home, my son decided to give the Firebird an outing for old time's sake. He was doing very well too, until he forgot two important 2-channel principles - 1. don't fly downwind and 2. don't fly close to the trees! Anyway, the FBC ended up lodged in the upper branches of a gum tree, about 60 feet off the ground.

We tried the old trick of trying to throw a weighted line over the branch to shake it, but we weren't strong or accurate enough with our throws. Then a gentleman named Geoff came up, having seen our problem, and said, "wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes, then I'll get your plane down". He was soon back with two friends, all carrying footballs.

An aside is in order here. In these parts (Victoria, Australia) football means Australian Rules Football, a game played with teams of 18 on an oval playing surface that can be as large as 150 by 120 yards. The dynamics of the game are somewhat like soccer, but players can handle the ball. Passing and scoring is done by means of very accurate kicks, the ball being similar to an American football but a little larger and not so pointed at the ends. In fact it is very similar to a rugby ball.

Good players can kick the ball very far and very straight. Geoff is a good player. He and his friends took turns kicking at the branch trapping the plane. A couple of times they hit the branch and almost shook it loose. Before long, Geoff had a direct hit on the right spot, down came the Firebird, completely undamaged.

Geoff was still at the ground in the afternoon, watching his 18 year old son play cricket, when I brought him a little token of thanks. Geoff, thanks again. I hope you and your friends enjoyed the beer.

I had a similar experience with an Aerobird. The wind blew it into a tree and it was stuck 25 feet up....and I mean stuck! No way to climb the tree as the limbs were small. We tried everything. Finally I went to the hardware store and bought 3 ten foot sections of pvc pipe and connectors. I first tried the 30' foot long pipe but it flexed too much. I cut one section in half and used the short section on the bottom. It worked. I poked at the plane till it fell.

Great perseverance! Isn't it a fantastic feeling when you finally see it come back to earth?