whizzard

My Feedback: (2)

I know that I am not the only pilot that has lost a plane in a tree top.

I just got my Commander last week and have had a fun time learning to fly again after about 25 yrs away from the hobby. (Silly 68 yr old man with time to be a kid again).

I think the Commander is an easy to fly, tough little plane that is great for beginners.

The main problem with my commander has been landing it too high. (Tree tops).

When I flew it the second time, it was getting dark and I misjudged the distance to the tree line around the field and hit a tree about 20ft up

We were in a HUGE hayfield behind my friends house so we got an extension ladder and a tree trimmer with a saw attached to the end.

I managed to shake the plane loose with the tree trimmer and didn't have to cut the limb off.

Only a tiny nick in the front of the wing.

Early the next morning I had my last flight with some wind and when I saw I was going into the trees I gave it full left rudder but since that was the wind direction it continued straight into the trees, about 50ft off the ground.

No ladder or stick could reach it safely so I went to the Wall Mart sports dept, bought a $10.00 sling shot, a cheap, spin off the front/bail type fishing reel (about $10.00), 250ft of 30lb test fishing line, a package of 6 3/4oz egg shaped line weights that have a hole through the center and 4 hose clamps in the autmotive dept.

At home I cut a 10" piece off an old broom handle, clamped it on the front bottom of the sling shot, clamped the reel below the front of the stick, loaded the reel, tied on the lead weight.

Plane Retreiver!!

I aimed for the plane and had to train myself to get accurate. The fishing line came off several times and got tangled up so bad I had to cut it off and reload it.

While missing several times, I tangled up the sinker on branches and had to wrap the line around the end of the broomstick and pull hard enough to break the line.

I took about 50 shots with the Plane Retreiver and finally hooked it over the right branch of the tree, made sure it got tangled on branch and shook it till the Commander fell loose.

$30.00 solution for retreiving a $150.00 investment and I still have my retreiver for other "too high landings"!

It was almost flying when it hit the ground.

Only slight bumps on the front of the wing.


Bill in West Virginia

quyetflyer

I myself have gotten a few planes stuck in trees..and wanted to share my "get the plane out of the tree" methods...

materials:

1 cheap bow and arrow set from a local toy store
30 lb test line for plane fishing

tie testline to bow and arrow......remember everthing you learned from archery in camp....and go to town.....

do yourself a favor and try not to be too good and put the arrow through the fuse!!!!

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

the down side is, the same problems they have at the coast,, if you leave the fishing line behind, birds will see it as nesting material and inevitable try to pick it up and get trapped in it and die,, please be responsible.. I too have lost a plane to a tree and tried everything,it was 70 feet up, finally a week later a storm blew it out,plane was worthless but the rc stuff still worked...Rog

whizzard

My Feedback: (2)

I forgot to say that I made sure to break the fishing line and remove it from the tree as well as the line that I lost when it became tangled on the ground several times while "fishing" for my plane.

My buddy said that we should try the bow & arrow method but that could result in arrows lost if you missed the branch your plane was on and tried to retreive the arrow.

It would probably be more accurate and quicker.

The fishing line weights were egg shaped and would come back down over several limbs when I missed allowing me to shoot the sling shot and miss again and again ...

I was able to tangle the line around the weight by allowing the weighted line to come down over the branch until I could wrap it with the line that was going up to the branch.

Bill in WV

cstatman

I have a telescoping fiberglass pole. Unfortunately, the only examples I could find on the net are REALLY expensive,

http://www.geodatasys.com/pole3.htm

I managed to pick mine up at a marine supply shop for about $45. It collapses to 3' length, and can expand to about 30 ft.

I have a racquetball on the business end, that I wrap with duct tape - sticky side out.

Allows me to 'grab' and manipulate stick & tissue planes, without poking through.

I wish I could remember the name of the marine shop, or brand name.....

BykrDan

Over the years, I've accumulated a tree trimmer (fiberglass pole), an aluminum pole for painting with a roller, and a metal curtain rod. The curtain rod is round, and a perfect fit over the end of the aluminum pole. A hose clamp makes it that much more secure. The aluminum pole can be lashed with duct tape quite handily to the end of the fiberglass tree trimmer pole, with the cutter removed. That device, coupled with a pickup truck and a step ladder, has never failed to bring back any plane I've lost!

I use a paper towel roll taped to the top, with a four-point tulip, or crown, cut at the end to actually grab the plane.

cstatman

ooohhhh I LIKE the tulip-ed paper towel roll. THAT'S COOL!

thanks for a great pointer!

BykrDan

Sure thing!

It's a lot easier on the plane than bopping it around with a metal pole...

BuzzBomber

My Feedback: (4)

This past sunday, I tree'd my old standby GWS cub in the top of a 70' +/- hickory. No pole was long enough. Lesson learned: Don't EVER try to retrieve plane by knocking loose with paintball gun set to low velocity, unless you like swiss cheese. I like the slingshot idea, very compact, easy to store. Unfortunately for me, the great legislature in my state has sought to protect us from ourselves by making slingshots illegal. So, I wound up using my ancient compound bow and a weighted aluminum arrow with kite line attached. Worked like a charm, except the weight on the arrow pulled the plane down REAL fast, destroying everything from the firewall forward.