After the last time I put a plane into a tall tree I brought that problem up at our next club meeting. We had to have some way to get these planes down. One of our members was familiar with how the electric power company in our area works. They use very long telescoping poles to do part of their work. Periodically these poles must be tested to make certain they pass some insulation test. It seems that at some point many of the poles fail the test and must be replaced. I urge all clubs to contact someone at the power company and reserve the next discarted telescoping pole. And do not use that pole to get a plane off a power line. Call the power company.

Shotgun

and don't think its never been done.

dang beat me to it lol

Caterpillar. Push tree over, recover plane.

Hah - the bubba method.

somegeek

I used a arrow with a string Tied to it. shoot through the wing and pull. Jim

One thing about flying in our area, ther are no trees, miles of sagebrush, but no trees.

Shooting a plane out of a tree may be a myth. On my first tree landing experience the plane was very high. Two members had Winchester lever action 30/30 deer rifles. They fired 20 rounds each and my plane was still up the tree and I was out the cost of 40 rounds. A young boy eventually got my plane down for the reward I had promised. One of the bullets had cut a groove thru one of the main tires. I kept flying the plane that way with the "combat" evidence for a few years. Anyone interested in the telescoping pole I mentioned earlier?

I said shotgun, not deer rifle

Well, the best way I have found is to call a friend that is good at climbing trees. Send him up with a rope, and he can gently lower the plane down to you. My friend Dean is really good for this, and he only charges $50.00!

I keep a duffel bag in my truck full of 2" x 3" oak blocks that are pre drilled in 3 places. I also have rope, nails a hammer and pruning shears in their. I locate the tree and proceed to build a ladder and climb up. I am looking for some tree climbing spikes at the local auctions. When the leaves came off the trees at our club...The woods liked an aviation grave yard.

cut the tree down

The coolest way to get a plane down would be to send up an R/C heli with a line & hook...

I tried that as a last resort to getting my Yak down. Shot both wings off, and the plane just lodged itself propeller first in a crook in the tree...its still there after about 6 months, at least 50 feet up.

After flying that CMP Yak with the fiberglass fuselage a few times, I figured the best place for it was in a tree, so I decided to leave it.

Nice... I'm game![8D]

why take a chance on flying another plane into the same tree? Cut that sucker DOWN!!

My foam Super Cub spent the night in an oak tree once.I brought home 50' of 1" PVC conduit from work and put it together (40') and snaked it up through the branches and was able to knock it out.It actually "flew" down and landed.Sustained no damage.

Trained monkey!,......make him the club mascot trained in retrieval!!

All of you have some good ideas. I like the shotgun idea the best. I had a plane stuck 60' up. I climbed the tree. But buy the time I reached the plane I was to tried to grab hold of the plane. Waiting for a short time I was able to knock the plane to the ground. By the time I reached the ground I had wished I had been knocked to the ground too. DON"T TRY THIS AT HOME WE ARE TRAINED PROFESSIONALS

Get a plane out of a tree? That's what young, healthy son-in laws are for!

the best thing to do is to tie fishing line to a nut (nut + bolt) (not like the food) and shoot it up with a wrist rocket. takes a couple trys but you can use the fishing line as a monkey line for thicker stronger rope, then you can just pull on both ends and shake the tree really hard. thats what ive always done.

My son has had several free flight electric foam planes that have met the same fate. I have a pole saw that extends, which has recovered them several times, usually with no damage. Home Depot or Lowes sells them at reasonable price. The one plane I planted in a tree years ago, I had to climb to recover.

i used a .22 once and shot one, just shot the limb it was on and down it came in a bunch of peices.. i like the electric company pole idea, as well as the nut and fishing line idea.