Phantoms big adventure !

[Hawkeye 1]

As much as I hate to I'm gonna have to confess my mistake....that cost me 150 bucks to rectify.....in the hope that it might help someone else. Friday afternoon, after a day of very gusty winds, a lull convinced me that I could get in a couple of flights on my Phantom V 1.1.1., in my back yard where I routinely fly. I was just doing a few laps over the trees, with plenty of clearance I thought, when a sharp downdraft put it in the top of a sycamore tree...more than 100 feet up. After spending The whole weekend trying to find someone who was crazy enough to climb up there and get it, I finally got a tree service to come out and send a guy up there to retrieve it late this afternoon. After spending two nights and three days of decent, but cool , weather up in the tree, the Phantom fired right up and flew like a champ and the GoPro seems to be fine. The only casualty of the fiasco was the battery which ran completely flat and refused to accept any charge. Moral to the story.....dont be a ******* and think that you can outsmart Mother Nature !

 

[DaveTown]

Nice story... You're not the only one...

A while back, I managed to "land" my phantom in the neighbors tree. I got out the 28 foot extension ladder. Up to the top... Not even close. I got out the 15 foot extension pole that I use to push the snow off my solar panels. Back up to the top of the ladder. Still out of reach. DANG! Found the pole saw, disconnected the saw, used duct tape to attach that pole to the 15 foot extension pole, and back up that ladder. After a bit of trouble, I was able to maneuver the poles to poke the phantom enough to dislodge it. It tumbled about 40 feet to the ground. PHEW!! No damage. Lucky, and I won't be risking another unexpected landing at an unfortunate angle in my neighbors trees any time soon.

 

[Hawkeye 1]

I spent an hour trying to cast a line up there and my brother-in -law brought a compound and a crossbow and tried to shoot a line...all to no avail. I thought that if we could get a line up there, we could shake it loose and pray that it doesn't break if we failed to catch it. It came to rest in the small branches at the very top and the limb that the guy went up to get it was not much bigger than a soup can. He estimated the heigth at 120 feet, judged by how much rope he used. I didn't flinch when he charged me 150 because I wouldn't have done it for a thousand. They say that the lessons that cost you are the ones you remember so I think that's my last flight into the treetops !