Today it was a load of fun... This is the first time I doing some tech hobby stuff in a forigen country. My manager is also an RC flyer but kind of a beginner. His plane was tangled in a tree near the airfield and we went on a mission to recover it. It is quite high up on an oak tree and its almost impossible to hurl up a stone there. After many futile attempts, we decided to make a potato cannon and shoot it on the branch where the plane sits. Finally, we made the cannon and fired the potato with a string attached to it... I should say the cannon bang was simply Awesome! Could hear the echo of the bang from the other end of the field!.. We were pretty close to the plane but could not retrieve it as the daylight went out. We will try out next week again with an aiming mechanism.

If you have any ideas please let me know.

oh i have one idea call the fire truck and use their ladder

No thatz not possible. The tree is inside a field with crops around. So, there is no question of a fire truck inside the field just to retrieve a model airplane. Besides, what the fun if you just sit back and get everything on your table... I would prefer some DIY kind of method to retrieve the plane.

Now that is an "original" problem Guess it is good that it is summer now, otherwise with the English weather, you can pretty much forget about the plane in 24 hours.

Do you (or your manager) have any friends who have (rock) climbing as a hobby, I mean with good rope, harness, belaying gear etc ?  May be it is time to buy them dinner/drink  

Ah!! Surely some one nearby has some trained birds that can be used to unhitch the mechanical bird . Or if the plane doesn't cost much get a air-rifle and shoot it down - especially if its a war-bird then may as well shoot it down  .

I Think a kite would be a best option here. It would be easy to fly a kite and get the thread around the plane.

Quote from: Rooster on July 03, 2009, 05:15:48 PM
I Think a kite would be a best option here. It would be easy to fly a kite and get the thread around the plane.

That is the best option I guess. I used to be a die hard kite flyer. Perhaps those skills would help.

Here is the video of how the plane was retrived. I missed it though.

Glad to see the original method itself worked !     

Did you come up with the idea, or your manager ?

Anyways, it is great to see a potato cannon in action !

Well, the idea is from my manager. He is a great guy!

-Ismail

Ismail - I posted this thread on RCU. You may want to comment there on the status of the plane after retrieval !

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10113649/anchors_10117134/mpage_3/key_/anchor/tm.htm  (Post #56)

Updated that thread. Thanks Anwar.

Wow Ismail!
I never thought Calcium carbide could be used for this purpose..The guys in my company use it for testing moisture content in soil..
The firing cannon looks like a Mortar pipe!

Yes. Its a very potent cannon. The projectile can be lethal in short distance.

Calcium carbide + Water = Acetylene + Calcium hydroxide

Acetylene is a highly inflammable gas. In some of the lathe shops calcium carbide is used to produce acetylene for their welding torches. In old days Carbide lamps were used in mining which burnt acetylene in a controlled manner.

Someone just posted on the RCU thread, with this as a possible solution !