Ooops!

[Tony]

Well it looks like the Wilga may be coming out of the fleet. I was out at my wifes uncles house this evening to do a little flying and things were going pretty good, flew through one pack no problems. I put in the second pack and made a couple of flights came around on the second flight with the intentions of stopping with that but once I landed I said to myself "Just one more flight". Turns out that was not such a good idea. There is a tree line at the far end of his yard (200-250 yards from where I was standing) and due to wind direction I had to drop in at the tree line to land, which had not been a problem on the previous flights. This time, however, I miss judged the distance to my plane. I would have bet my life I was inside the treeline right up to the point when the plane stopped cold right in the tip top of a 70 ft pine tree.

I stood at the base of the tree for a while trying to figure out what to do. Jimmy (wifes uncle) suggested shooting the limb but the only guns available were the two pistols I had in my truck. Now I am a pretty good shot but a 70 ft shot straight up at a limb that is maybe an inch in diameter with a pistol...I don't think so. I decided to try anyway so I grabbed the .45 (Springfield XD) first. Could not get a clear shot at the limb that was actually holding the plane so I just shot as close to it as I could but by the time I got the other limbs cleared I was out of bullets so I grabbed the .22 (Ruger Mk IV Hunter). I could tell I was hitting the limb occasionally but the .22 was just not doing enough damage and then it just got too dark.

Going back tomorrow with a rifle and a chainsaw! That thing is comng down one way or another. ;D

[kiwi1080]

Hope you dont have any neighbours close by, those bullets have to land somewhere...Actually I watched something on that mythbusters show that shows a bullet coming down will hurt you on an arc, but not if it goes dead straight up and down, kinda strange. Hope the chainsaw works out for you.

[Tony]

I made sure to shoot in a direction that would be safe. There are not many houses out there but there are a few. I have been shooting and handling guns since I was about 8 or 9 and can honestly say it is one of the few things that I am really good at. Safety First.

As for the chainsaw, if I have to resort to that the plane will be trash. Atleast I will be able to salvage the electronics though.

[ranben]

Hope it dont rain.

[Tony]

You and me both...

[19000rpm]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. The best method I've discovered for retrieving planes from trees, and who hasn't done that once or twice unless you fly in the desert, is a fishing rod with 15-20lb test and a rubber covered sinker. I owe this to my good friend Dave Bujold manager of Horizon Hobby's store in Minnesota.

The idea is to cast the sinker on a limb close to the plane and set up a shaking motion until the planes comes down, or at least to a lower branch, where you can repeat the process. Even if you can't cast as high as the limb where the plane is sometimes even a lower limb will get the tree shaking enough to help.

Take care not to cast too close to the plane because if you hit it with the sinker it can cause alot of damage. Have extra sinkers on hand in case the line breaks.

I carry the fishing rod along with my planes in my SUV as good luck. It seems that the only time I ever needed it was when I left it at home.

Now when I fly near trees I make sure to immediately get above the tree line on take off and when I land approach from a direction that I can either avoid the tree line or wait until I am absolutely sure I've cleared it before bringing it down.

Before I knew about the fishing rod trick; My first plane, an Art-Tech 3ch Wing Dragon, after a 50 year layoff from flying, ended up in a tree and spent the entire winter up there, snow rain the works, until it finally blew down. To my amazement it still worked.

Hope to hear you get the Wilga down soon.

Happy landings

[Tony]

I don't know why I didn't think of that. The bad thing is there were 5 rods just laying in the back of my truck at the time all this was going on. My daughter and I had been fishing yesterday afternoon and stopped at Jimmy's on the way home to fly. I can't go out there till this afternoon (have to do the family thing for a while) but I will definitely give that a try. I have a large home made sand hook that I keep on a 10 ft heavy action rod with 20 lb line that should work. I use this rig as an out rigger when Pier fishing down at the beach.

Thanks 19k

[19000rpm]

That sounds like the right kind of rig for the job. I just use a medium stiff spinning rod and it's taken on a 300 yr old live oak and won. ;D

Where do you surf fish?

Happy landings

[Tony]

On a day trip I go down to Ocean Isle Beach or Sunset Beach, NC.
Usually try to get up to the Outer Banks atleast once every fall. I f you like to surf fish you gotta hit the Outer Banks atleast once. Fishing is best there in the fall.

[19000rpm]

Sounds really nice Tony. I'll have to give it a try. I grew up on Fla's east coast around Singer Island off North Palm Beach. Used to surf fish almost every evening and spear fished all day long in the summer and before school and after school when I wasn't working. Haven't surf fished for a while now, but your post has really got me thinking. ]

Happy landings

[Tony]

No dice today. The wind has really been bad here today and when I got out there the plane had shifted further down in the tree and was wedged against the trunk. No amount of shaking would budge it. The wind was blowing way too hard to safely cut the tree so it is still up there for now.

On the way home though, I remembered that a friend of mine is the Captain at one of the local Volunteer Fire Departments. I think his station has one of those big ladder trucks. Gonna give him a call tomorrow.

[19000rpm]

Sometimes the wind gods are not cooperative. But, it sounds like you have a solution that makes that no problemo. My friend Dave at Horizon is a volunteer fireman at a community too far away to help me if I needed them...Maybe a bribe of a case or two of brewskis might do it though. ;D

Happy landings

[McKrackin]

In the building trade I always have access to some sort of ariel work platform.
Call your local equipment rental store and tell them you need to go up 70',outdoors,on rough terrain and for cheap.See what they can hook you up with.Some places can set you up for less than $100 for half a day.

The tree will appreciate the effort ;D

[19000rpm]

Great idea ern. ;D

Happy landings

[ranben]

Mar 8, 2009 10:52:00 GMT -6 19000rpm said:

Sounds really nice Tony. I'll have to give it a try. I grew up on Fla's east coast around Singer Island off North Palm Beach. Used to surf fish almost every evening and spear fished all day long in the summer and before school and after school when I wasn't working. Haven't surf fished for a while now, but your post has really got me thinking. ]

Happy landings

Hey 19K,

I grew up as a surf bum myself. I lived in Satellite Beach, south of Cocoa Beach. Lived in Ft. Walton Beach prior to that, but the waves sucked. Lots of difference between the Gulf and the Atlantic.