RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

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bugwubber
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RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by bugwubber »

So...I had my micro electric plane out yesterday and ended up getting it stuck 50 or so feet up in an Oak tree.

Tried climbing the tree. Got 23 feet up and realized that wasn't worth falling out of the tree.
Tried throwing a weighted sandbag on a rope. Just couldn't get it high enough.

Then my thoughts turned to the water rocket "gun" launcher I had made, and my bowfishing reel.
If I could shoot a string over the branch it was on, I could pull over a rope and use it to shake the branch.
Decided using my bow would need to be a last resort since the neighbors might not take too kindly to me aiming my bow up into the sky.

An alert on my phone warned me I had until morning before a storm came in.

Luckily for y'all, my wife came out to laugh and document this scene.

[youtube][/youtube]

Anyway, I'm happy to report the plane was knocked down to a smaller tree which I was able to climb this morning and violently shake until it fell down. The rain is here and the little Citabria is sitting uninjured on my table.

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Asupremeflight
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by Asupremeflight »

So... Did you get it down?
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by bugwubber »

Asupremeflight wrote:So... Did you get it down?
Yeah, it fell down into the top of a smaller 30ft tree that I was able to climb up and shake until it dropped down low enough for me to grab.

The water rocket on a string is definitely staying in my toolbox as a rocket recovery solution should the need arise! I just need to install a plexiglass shield so I don't forget to drop the facemask down again.

I could use my bow in more remote areas but here in the neighborhood, that wouldn't be well received...

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Nick B
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by Nick B »

We've done the archery for tree stuck rockets before.

took about 100 shots.





next time we switched to a potato gun. Bout 5 shots.






arrows were ok with neighbors......Loud booming potato gun,

not soo much.......
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by bugwubber »

Nick B wrote:We've done the archery for tree stuck rockets before.

took about 100 shots.





next time we switched to a potato gun. Bout 5 shots.






arrows were ok with neighbors......Loud booming potato gun,

not soo much.......
Were you trying to knock it down or did you have a line attached? My plane weighs 12grams so I was doing my best to not hit it and instead lay a line over the branch so I could shake it.
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Team Seneca
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by Team Seneca »

I saw this video the other day and thought it was pretty cool! Good new use for WR.
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by bugwubber »

Team Seneca wrote:I saw this video the other day and thought it was pretty cool! Good new use for WR.
Thanks! BTW, here's the plane I was rescuing...
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

We have our own system that we've used in the past that is a little more traditional. Before that we did once use a commercial toy water rocket to try and dislodge one of our first FTC rockets by hitting the tree branch. The system was meant for kids so it had all kinds of safety interlocks on it that would prevent it from launching unless it was perfectly vertical, so it was hard to aim at anything. We gave up and started tossing sticks at it and got it down that way.
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Nick B
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by Nick B »

bugwubber wrote:
Nick B wrote:We've done the archery for tree stuck rockets before.

took about 100 shots.





next time we switched to a potato gun. Bout 5 shots.






arrows were ok with neighbors......Loud booming potato gun,

not soo much.......
Were you trying to knock it down or did you have a line attached? My plane weighs 12grams so I was doing my best to not hit it and instead lay a line over the branch so I could shake it.
just knock it down with good old fashioned heavy mass. RAT:

Willow tree with near vertical branches.
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by Tony »

I recently got a rocket stuck on a roof, the wind then blew it into a tree. I spent about an hour with a heavy fishing weight tied to a long string, slinging it into the tree over and over again. I did eventually get the line around the branch near the rocket and shook it loose. Good thing it worked on that last try, because the line curled around the branch, locked itself in place, and broke on the last pull... I got the rocket, but lost the fishing weight. Easy choice though, the rocket had my altimeter and my msp430 in it - the weight is 30 years old and costs about $0.30 to replace (and I have others).
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Re: RC Airplane rescue attempt with water rocket

Post by bugwubber »

Tony wrote:I recently got a rocket stuck on a roof, the wind then blew it into a tree. I spent about an hour with a heavy fishing weight tied to a long string, slinging it into the tree over and over again. I did eventually get the line around the branch near the rocket and shook it loose. Good thing it worked on that last try, because the line curled around the branch, locked itself in place, and broke on the last pull... I got the rocket, but lost the fishing weight. Easy choice though, the rocket had my altimeter and my msp430 in it - the weight is 30 years old and costs about $0.30 to replace (and I have others).
The sandbag I have is from a rope limb saw. It has wire just folded over through a grommet so that if it gets stuck in a tree, all I have to do is pull hard enough and the wire will unbend and drop the sandbag. Unfortunately that also meant that I couldn't throw the sandbag hard enough - it would release and go sailing through the woods. So I did about 10 throws before I gave up on that and turned to the water rocket. I also tried the rocket dry but just not enough height.
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