Are there any good techniques for getting a plane down from a tree?


The plane is less than 18 inches in width and electric; it is bright yellow, but it is in so far that it took me nearly 20 minutes to find the 3 inches of tail that are visible. It is around 75 feet up and there are no low branches to climb from (plus I dont want to fall and break my neck).

I've tried tying some string to a roll of tape (all I had in my car) and throwing it up there, but I can't make the distance. Turning on the motor makes noise but doesn't dislodge anything.

Any ideas/experience out there that I can tap?

Thanks!

SHOTGUN!

shotgun indeed!!

Professional tree service?

double barrel

How about getting a r/c heli with videocam and a tow hook to lift or pluck it from the tree?? Save the batt power as you'll need it on the way down. R/C chopper to the rescue !!

Pay a brave kid to go up and shake it out.

Risk the life of a kid for a $100 toy ? It's a big no, no. Get a trained monkey !! Hey. I've seen them pluck coconuts.......

A buddy of mine used to work for a tree service company. &^%$ that boy can climb

What we use at our club is white pvc pipes. It is cheap and the small stuff is easy to handle . Although 75 feet is a long way..
I would glue on threaded couplers then you could screw them together . Good luck !!!!!!

Chainsaw!

Kill a 100 year old balsawreckum tree ?? That's criminal !!

Get the Wife to climb up then use the Chain Saw.




Ray

TRY A FISHING POLE,spider wire and large weight worked for me.

Hope this works. This is what a shot gun will do to a model.

I had a similar experience. We took an old baseball, and put a screweye into it. We tied a long string (chalk line type) to it. I am 50 years old, my body builder friend is 40. Neither of us could get the ball any where near the plane, but my 20 y.o. son had no trouble. In fact, he was able to hit the plane several times, but the idea is to throw the ball over the limb. If you miss, untie the string from the ball, don't try to pull the ball back out of the tree. Once you get the string over the limb, you use the string to pull a heavier rope over the limb. Once that's done, you put one person on each end and shake the limb like hell. It took us four hours. I estimate the plane was about 70 feet up, but since the tree was on a hill, we had a bit of an advantage by throwing from the uphill side. Good luck!

PVC pipe is a good idea. You can get some pretty long lengths of that..

potato gun... definately.

I built a potato gun last summer that shot a spud approx 700 feet. It would have similar effects as a shotgun I think, but not quite as harsh. Plus, they're really fun!

What ever method you use please be sure to video it so you can send in the result to America's Funnest Video. I see a good one in the making.

Know anyone who is a good archer? An arrow with some lite (perhaps kite) string might be enough to drag it down without major damage. If you're really lucky you may just have to do some covering repair... but yes, please take video.

jon

I was going to reccomend a bow and arrow as well......

what happens when the plane falls out from 70 feet up? Do you try to catch it???

Maybe the local fire department can help you out. It can't hurt to ask them.

That's a good point. I don't think I'd use the baseball method if the plane was in good shape and valuable. In my case, the fuse was already broken in half, and the wing was on the ground. All we were really interested in was the engine and the radio equipment, and a fall wouldn't hurt them. As it turned out, the plane (fuse) fell into another branch about 20 feet up, which was a little discouraging, but easier to manage.

anybody,

It's just like golf: you have to play it where it lies. You gotta climb up there with your radio, start it up, and fly it home.

banktoturn