Would contact be lost between the Tx and Rx if you sent your plane behind a tree (at close range) and waited for it to come out the other side?

Just curious.

Not likely. Trees will reduce the signal but not block it.

One of the fields in our area have a "killer tree" on the far side of the field. Many planes have passed behind it. Many more were "grabbed" by it

I have done it with no signal loss. But signal loss is not what worries you.

What REALLY worries you is the 3 seconds that the plane is behind the tree seems to last for 3 minutes!

I flew around an island at the lake and didn't loose signal. The mountain on it was tall and the plane was gone for about 3 seconds. I was on the island across from it with about 100 feet of water between them. That was a long 3 seconds. I don't advise it. Dumb thing to do.

I've flown a few combat contests where there are trees in the combat zone, and flying around behind the trees, up over them, and generally playing chicken with anything out there is fair game. So, no, it won't block the radio, but it's real easy to crash, usually in to the very tallest part of the tree.

fwiw, if you have a handy valley, or hill, you can also fly behind that, and put your airplane out of site. My home field has a long mostly straight ditch, with one nasty turn towards the end, and guys "run the valley", putting the plane out of sight as long as they dare. Many a balsa debris field is the result, but it's good fun for the foolhardy.

The reason I ask is because I lost my LT-40 this weekend while doing touch and goes. I had to pull up and away from a guy who ran out onto the runway and the little 40LA could not pull her over the trees that parallel the runway, so I had to level her off and let her go behind them. Well, the plane did not come out the other side and it did not go into the tree. I searched for over 20 hours in the head-high corn behind the trees to no avail.

What a sickening feeling to lose a plane altogether-especially your first.

You crashed because you lost sight of the plane not due to signal loss.

With enough experience, you probably would have been okay. The real trick is to try to maintain a level to slightly climbing attitude while maintaining a straight heading while it's out of sight! That requires a lot of patience because your fighting the instinct to pull up.

I've saved a couple planes by continuing to fly them after I'm sure they've crashed.
Dennis-

I suspected signal loss because I tried to put the plane down soon after I lost sight of it so it wouldn't go off and hit someone. If those signals went through, I would expect the plane to be nearby.

Thanks for the constructive response Dennis.

All this reminded me of a flight I made back when I was new to all this. I had just finished a 1/2A plane, don't remember what it was, and went out in the pasture to fly it. First mistake. I got it fired up, second mistake, and hand launched it into the breeze. It flew out straight ahead, but it was heading for an orchard of Pecan trees. I knew it would not climb over the trees so I yanked it into a right turn and it went between a barn and the orchard, third mistake. When it disappeared behind the barn I knew it was still flying as I could hear the engine running. When I figured it was clear of the back of the barn I pulled it into another right turn and leveled it off (I hoped) and waited a few long seconds to see it reappear from behind the barn. Exhaling all the air I had sucked in when the plane first disappeared from sight, I meant to fly it out where I had more space, fourth mistake. I still can't figure out what signal I sent it, but the plane snap rolled and flew into the ground. End of flight and end of plane, but the begining of a long long association with R/C models and pitfalls. I'm still making mistakes, but I don't know how many. I've lost count as I have been having just too much fun to care!

Fuzzy41, you can eliminate the tree as the culprit. There isn't a tree with foliage long enough to attenuate 72MHz signals.

Now, if we were flying with 900MHz radios, pine needles, especially wet pine needles, can completely block signals.

Like the others said...it's those three seconds of high anxiety while the plane disappears that does most of them in.

Sorry for your loss & hope you find it!

Don't omit looking in the trees! Both up and down.

Its probably a relative of Charley Brown's kite eating tree