I was out practicing this morning when a guy approached me and asked about my Phantom. He said he had been flying a brand new Parrot yesterday and got it stuck about 50 or 60 feet up in a nearby tree.
I walked over with him to take a look. He had a piece of PVC pipe but it wasn’t nearly long enough to reach the branch the Parrot was caught on. A few months ago, a friend of mine had gotten his Phantom stuck two trees over and about 20 feet higher. He called a tree service and paid $150 to get his Phantom back. I suggested the Parrot guy do the same.
About 20 minutes later, I saw him tossing a heavy bolt, attached to a string, up towards the stuck Parrot. I walked over to observe. After watching a few throws, I was confident I could loop the string over the branch with my Phantom. He had 100 feet of clothesline, along with about 70 feet of a lighter string, which we knotted to make one long string.
I tied one end to my landing gear and did a few practice lifts with the weight of the line. The plan was to go straight up, then forward over the branch holding the parrot, and then straight down to a hand-catch in the parking lot on the other side of the trees.
There was a bit of a breeze causing the string and Phantom to drift, but it was manageable. The first attempt resulted in a good loop, but on the wrong branch. The second attempt won the gold medal.
After landing and detaching the Phantom and with both ends of the line in hand, he was able to shake the branch until the fell Parrot down to earth. He even hand-caught the Parrot before it hit the deck.
I wish MoonJet was wearing her GoPro, but I was able to get a few stills with my iPhone. His wife made a video with her phone and I’m waiting for her to send it to me. In the meantime, here are the photos.
I walked over with him to take a look. He had a piece of PVC pipe but it wasn’t nearly long enough to reach the branch the Parrot was caught on. A few months ago, a friend of mine had gotten his Phantom stuck two trees over and about 20 feet higher. He called a tree service and paid $150 to get his Phantom back. I suggested the Parrot guy do the same.
About 20 minutes later, I saw him tossing a heavy bolt, attached to a string, up towards the stuck Parrot. I walked over to observe. After watching a few throws, I was confident I could loop the string over the branch with my Phantom. He had 100 feet of clothesline, along with about 70 feet of a lighter string, which we knotted to make one long string.
I tied one end to my landing gear and did a few practice lifts with the weight of the line. The plan was to go straight up, then forward over the branch holding the parrot, and then straight down to a hand-catch in the parking lot on the other side of the trees.
There was a bit of a breeze causing the string and Phantom to drift, but it was manageable. The first attempt resulted in a good loop, but on the wrong branch. The second attempt won the gold medal.
After landing and detaching the Phantom and with both ends of the line in hand, he was able to shake the branch until the fell Parrot down to earth. He even hand-caught the Parrot before it hit the deck.
I wish MoonJet was wearing her GoPro, but I was able to get a few stills with my iPhone. His wife made a video with her phone and I’m waiting for her to send it to me. In the meantime, here are the photos.