Well, I officially flew my first R/C airplane on my first ever flight today and got it stuck in a tree. But.. I got it down after 3 or 4 hours using various tactics.
My Aerobird Challenger was lodged about 40 or 50 feet up in a tree and the tail was hooked on a branch pretty good. We threw rocks, sticks... tied a rock to string and tried to throw it over the branch in an effort to shake the tree limb, but to no avail. 3 other onlookers came over to join in on the fun. One guy tied a monkey wrench to a rope and tried to throw it up there. No luck. Fishing rod.. . no luck. 2 x 4. Nothing.
Finally the guy with the fishing rod pulled out a large (for fishing at least) fishing weight and we tied some very strong put pretty thin nylon string to the weight. On about the first or second try, I successfully got the weight on the proper branch. I let the weight fall to the ground and I grabbed that end, while my friend grabbed the other. I pulled down over and over again and the battery pack fell from the plane, and then finally the plane fell from the tree - into another tree! It didn't stay there long and fell out and then glided into the water near the tree! Rule #1 - don't fly near trees. Rule #2 - don't fly near water - at least not if you're a complete beginner like me.
We got to wondering - what other techniques might work to get your plane out of a tree? I thought - what if you got a slingshot and shot the fishing weight with string to the branch holding your plane. For a situation where your plane gets caught in a really high tree, you won't be able to throw it. What about a archery/spearfishing setup?
Anyone have any interesting techniques they've used to get a plane out of the tree?