Best way to tree recover?

Hello,

I am starting to notice a trend that despite my best efforts to launch on low wind days, every once in a while a rocket manages to go higher and farther than I thought, and manages to just make it to the treeline and park itself right at the top.

Shy of cutting down every tree that it gets stuck in, what is the best way to recover these?

The method I have had very grudging success with is connecting a lot of very long and skinny things together from my garage, like old curtain rods and other nick knacks, but this seems to have a limited range of 20' or so. Beyond the 20' mark and it starts to get way too long, wobbly, and flexible.

Of course the vast majority of the time my rockets are getting stuck, it seems to be in the 20-40' range, and it's never in a tree that I can climb.

I think the ideal pole would be something that is skinny and light but still strong, but even after checking out hardware stores the best thing I could find was 3/4" plastic PVC that comes in 10' lengths, but even those get really wobbly when you put a couple together. They didn't have any 1-2" pipe that I think may be perfect, it was just either 3/4" which was too skinny or the 3" stuff that is way too thick/heavy for a 40' long tree pole.

So what have you guys come up with? Either the best material to make a telescoping pole out of, or something else outside the box that I hadn't thought of.

I've got an Estes V2 that I spent a lot of time on perched in the park by my house and I'd really like to get it before the next snow/rain.

Thanks everyone.

The problem is that anything stiff enough to not flex is also heavy -- heaving up 20 - 30 feet of 1" PVC is difficult, at best, and it still flexes pretty badly.

I've had my best luck by tying a light rope around the neck of a water bottle, and tossing it up and over the recovery system, then pull.

-Kevin

I'm working with larger rockets so I don't know if this is of any help. Actually I've yet to need it for one of mine and hope I never do! But I use a longer line between the chute(s) and the rocket than what is strictly necessary. My thought is perhaps the chute may get tangled but perhaps the heavier rocket will thread its way down to where I can get at it.

Otherwise, if you can't climb the tree, or snag it with a pole, or get there with a ladder (buddy system, please), it may be time for tree service.

Gerald

Kevin,

That's actually a decent idea with the "throw" method. We're still talking about things that are pretty high up, but if I had something that was significantly heavy with a line tied to it, it might just work. At the end of the day I don't care about the parachute or shock cord, just the top and bottom of the rocket, so I will try it. If it works to get my V2 back I'll certainly owe you a drink.

Gerald,

Yeah, unfortunately I'm still in the little leagues of rockets using A-D engines, and all of mine weigh next to nothing. It's not even that I can't personally climb a tree, I'm in the Army and pretty fit, but just my luck they seem to get stuck in the tops of evergreen trees that have had all their undergrowth removed. And of course they never get stuck in the middle of the trees, just the top.

Even big rockets get caught up in trees -- a few years back, three of us used the bottle/rope/throw method to recover a Level 3 project from about 30 feet up in a tree.

If any of us had any ability to aim, it might've taken us less than 90 minutes to get it down.....

-Kevin

Various methods I and or someone helping me has used. Of course some of them required land owner permission and compliance with local ordinance

Wait For Weather to bring it down
40 foot pole
Fishing Line
Chain Saw
Shot Gun - Most likely NOT a good idea in most public parks.

Don't laff...my son got a grappling hook from one of his other brothers for Christmas (don't ask) and we used that until we kept catching way too much of the tree. It evolved into throwing a plumbers lead 'bob' which seemed a little more accurate and you could throw it over hand. Attempts to use the quieter 'pellet gun' didn't fair so well....

Googling "Antenna Launcher" turns up things like this -

(not my idea)

There's some very fancy gas powered launchers, too, but this seems like it would do the job!

Krusty

krusty said:

Googling "Antenna Launcher" turns up things like this -
View attachment 112304
(not my idea)

There's some very fancy gas powered launchers, too, but this seems like it would do the job!

Krusty

Click to expand...

THAT IS AWESOME!!!!

I totally got to try THIS ONE ...

-Alex

My default recovery technique is a combination of a telescoping 24foot aluminum painters pole, to which can be lashed two 8 foot 1x1 pieces of wood. That has at times been topped with a lighter weight 10 foot piece of wood. The total length is a little less than the sum due to about a 1 foot overlap where the pieces join together. The only way to control it when it gets so tall is by finding a suitable place up in the tree to rest it against before hoisting it higher and/or attaching more material. I wish I had the picture handy of my buddy using it to successfully retrieve his Estes V2 from high in a tree. It was a real workout but worked.

Jim Z

The painters pole works for me, and I screw a paint roller handle on to the end and bind the roller from turning so that I can lift with it. Sometimes I stand on top of a "Little Giant" ladder in the "A" frame configuration for stability, and gets me up about 40'. I also have a telescopic tree pruner that can get up to 18' beyond what I can normally reach and it has a combination saw and pruning hook at the head. If possible, I can either cut the limb off or cut the shock cord and let pieces start falling.

Our club uses a telescoping flag pole. It gets pretty wobbly when fully extended, but it is manageable. It works best with 2 or 3 when fully extended.

Trained cat. Works great...I hope.

Concrete float poles. I bought our club a set of 3. They connect to make a longer pole.

Trees are overrated cut them down and plant a nice bush in its place! lol

azzie said:

I totally got to try THIS ONE ...

-Alex

Click to expand...

LOL Yup! That *DOES* look like fun

Krusty

krusty said:

Googling "Antenna Launcher" turns up things like this -
View attachment 112304
(not my idea)

There's some very fancy gas powered launchers, too, but this seems like it would do the job!

Krusty

Click to expand...

In another life when I installed alarms, a company sold something like this to run wires through suspended ceilings. I never bought one, but a guy at another company did and said it worked great for that purpose. I'm guessing it would work well for recovering rockets as well. Had one of those wrist rockets back with I was a kid. They were really accurate.

I almost bought a cheap crossbow during Menards black friday sale. That would think that it would work as well.

Although not the cheapest option, a trained monkey might be your best bet. You could rent him out as well. :wink:

If it's in powerlines... Leave it and call the power company.

Up to 15 feet... get a pole.

Above 20'... I tried casting a 2 oz lead weight with a fishing pole as a kid. Height obtained is great... easy to get 50+ feet. The problem is accuracy wasn't up to par. I keep a 6 oz fishing weight and some chalk line in my range box. Pretty easy to throw accurately to 30-40 feet.

Above that... get a saw or a new rocket!

chimney sweep poles.
They are 4' long each and screw together as far as you have money.

burnout said:

chimney sweep poles.
They are 4' long each and screw together as far as you have money.

Click to expand...

That is intersting. Float poles are less flexible but heavier. They work by the same concept.

There are some pretty good ideas in the other tree recovery thread:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?9187-Tree-Recovery

I just went through the exercise of putting two new antennas up in the trees.

My wife got me a 33 ft fiberglass antenna pole for Christmas a while ago--I found that by removing the top most section and duct taping it to the two lower sections of a telescoping paint pole, I could drop lead weights over tree branches 40 to 43 feet above the ground.

Thanks for the help, guys. I tried the throw method with the full bottle and the theory was sound but I just couldn't get it to snag properly. I had it tangled once but when I pulled down the shock cord came down for a bit then bounced back loose. I could never get it in the parachute lines.

I'm even reasonably athletic and coordinated, and it took me about 100 throws to hit the thing five times. I think the throw method would work perfectly for something up to 30', but this seems just at the outer edge of that. Worse, there were enough other trees around that there was only one direct method to get through to it. Every throw (underhand) ended up being a full body heave as high as I could get it, also requiring perfect aim, hence the 5% contact rate and 1% tangle rate.

I also briefly thought about the mini grappling hook, but as mentioned by someone else above it would end up snagged on the tree more than the rocket.

I'll try the painter's pole thing next (sigh).

It's not a method for the impatient, that's for sure. I've spent hours...
A couple years ago my son and I were at a local park to fly a few. My Crossfire IXS ended up in a maple in full foliage. I got the cord and weight out from the box and started throwing. A little while later an elderly couple on their daily stroll stopped to see what was going on - they were at a bit of a distance. When I realized they were watching me I turned to them and said "darn squirrels just ain't bitein' today!" After an even more perplexed look covered their faces, their was a head shake and they carried on.

I notice this recently in a random web advertisement:

https://www.cableorganizer.com/laserline/



"Pulling cable over long distances can be done in just seconds with the LaserLine™. The lightweight tool allows you to launch your pull line accurately up to 120ft in just one shot. This labor saving tool can increase the speed of your cable installation, without sacrificing the quality."

I have a rocket that is still up in a tree at probably 70-80 ft. It was my level 1 cert rocket and I miscalulated the wind drift - hadn't flown it in over a year. I've been trying to figure out a way to retrieve it.

W

Fiberglass lineman's pole. Bow Fishing Kit. Etc.

This table can generally handle it...

A guy at MDRA showed me.
1) Hi-powered sling shot
2) Huge, lead fishing weight with eyelet
3) 100+ feet of light rope or heavy string.
Shoot the weight right over the location of the rocket.
Grab both ends of the rope, pull down through the limbs, down comes the rocket.
All the gear fits in a small plastic tub, keep it handy for rainy days or when the trees get in the way.

Rub peanut butter on the shock cord. When a squirrel eats the peanut butter he will chew through the shock cord and your rocket will fall to the ground.