Rocket eating trees

[Bowhunter]

My Fat boy was laid to rest today a big oak just jumped out and ate it. FatBoy R.I.P

 

[PWALPOCO]

Lousy good for nothing trees ........

Ah well , todays trees are tomorrows fins n BTs ...... thatll teach em !!

Sorry to hear about your loss ..... no chance the tree may release your rocket ??

Paul

 

[jetra2]

Originally posted by PWALPOCO
Ah well , todays trees are tomorrows fins n BTs ...... that'll teach em !!

ROTFLMAO!

As some on RMR would say, "This should be in the FAQ!"

LOL...that's great! Thanks for the laugh...

It's true folks!

Jason

 

[cydermaster]

Originally posted by PWALPOCO
todays trees are tomorrows fins n BTs

Perhaps the Fatboy componants were trying to go back to their roots - or in this case, branches!

 

[WiK]

LMAO


Thats a good one !!! True though

That Fat Boy of yours must be made of homing wood


Phil

 

[corpse]

god i hate when that happens !

 

[shockwaveriderz]

you ever notice that when a rocket eating tree snatches one of your beloved models, everytime you go by , you look to see if its still up there? even years later? and you never seem to forget?

 

[rbeckey]

I say get out the Poulan and give it a few good revs right under the blasted thing. Tell it about how you are going to get it's relatives next time you need some firewood. :kill:

 

[powderburner]

with my luck, if I started cutting down the tree, half-way over the rocket would come loose

it would then fall to the ground, under the spot where the tree was going to land

 

[graylensman]

Originally posted by shockwaveriderz
you ever notice that when a rocket eating tree snatches one of your beloved models, everytime you go by , you look to see if its still up there? even years later? and you never seem to forget?

<b>LOL!!</b> i lost an Estes Goliath - a kit in a starter set, my first BARbird - and even after heavy rainstorms, I held out hope that the rocket was merely washed out of the tree and not utterly waterlogged.

 

[wwattles]

I have never met a rocket eating tree, but I have encountered many a rocket-eating bush... they are remarkably common out in the desert, but they are also quite easily fooled into looking the other way whilst one recovers a rocket held hostage.

WW

 

[rokitflite]

I had a home built camera rocket that got stuck up in a tree over 10 years ago. Thanks to my over building and the heavy-duty nylon chute, the rocket is STILL up in the tree to this day! The orange parachute is now tattered and gray, but it remains entangled. Maybe if I made my chutes out of those bio-degradeable trash bags I could get my tree victims back and give them a proper burial.

 

[Gus]

Well you know that the word "tree" is not actually a real word, it's an acronym:

The Rocket Eating Estesivore

 

[Silverleaf]

Heck..at least a bush and tree won't fight back...much.

We launched a couple low powers in Arizona back in 89.

Went to recover the Red Maxx, as he had landed near a giant cactus and was pulled under by the chute. Reached down underneath and BLAM..got a hand full ( literally ) of spines, covered my arm and wrist. All because of a Jumping Cactus.

As to your tree woes, I've found that if you simply present a Chainsaw to the tree, and IF NEEDED cut down one of its cousins, the tree shudders and drops its bounty.

*tounge planted firmly in cheek*

 

[GlennW]

Man, I hate the rocket-eaters! Luckily, at our club launches, we have one of those 50 ft. telescoping poles, so many of our birds have been saved! But like someone else said, about 10 years ago my brother and I launched an Estes Icarus and it landed in the woods. Well over the next few months, I must have gone into those woods 3 or 4 times just to look for the darn thing, but alas my efforts bore no fruit (or the rocket). I'm guessing it is no more.

GLENN

 

[powderburner]

Originally posted by GlennW
Man, I hate the rocket-eaters! Luckily, at our club launches, we have one of those 50 ft. telescoping poles, so many of our birds have been saved!

Heck, I've seen a 6 ft. Swede, and a German, but they weren't telescoping.

Where might one find a 50 ft. pole? Any brand names, or product numbers? Is this an item made for some general use (and priced hopefully where the general public could afford one) or is it a high-priced specialty item like an electric company lineman might use?

 

[Fishhead]

Originally posted by shockwaveriderz
you ever notice that when a rocket eating tree snatches one of your beloved models, everytime you go by , you look to see if its still up there? even years later? and you never seem to forget?

Yup. Going on three years now and every time I pass the field wherein lies my first upscale Star Snoop nose cone, I check the tree for the white dot. I have a picture of the remains of the body, which fell after a year, but I can't locate it at the moment. I had to evict a mouse to give it a proper burial. I had to shake out the mouse poo to do so. (Almost had to shake my leg to loosen the fish poo. Nearly scared it out of me when he jumped out.)
BTW, it currently resides in a KY tree, Shockie. (Not that that softens the blow any.)

 

[Dr. Don]

Hey there Warren!
I just happen to have a 40' pole!
In combination with up to a 32' extension ladder, There may still be some hope for Mr. Fat!!
How tall is the tree, and Where?? Dr. Don

 

[Ryan S.]

I hate RET's cousins, telephone poles....sometimes they are just as bad!!!!

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

Originally posted by shockwaveriderz
you ever notice that when a rocket eating tree snatches one of your beloved models, everytime you go by , you look to see if its still up there? even years later? and you never seem to forget?

Really cruel happened to me recently when wind caught an AT Barracuda on a G80 and I chased the durn thing (by car) for almost 2 miles. Then it stopped floating down. Draped over a high tension line (just slightly more than 400,000V). Lets see:

Nylon Chute
Kevlar lines
Plastic cone and fins
Epoxy assembly
I doped the interior
A good paint job.

That thing will torment me for years

 

[xxxREKxxx]

I like the "Estesivore", my yard is full of those. Grabbed my son's Patriot the other day.

As to the 50' pole, like most other things in my barn, mine came from (you guessed it!) the dump. In this case it's many old tent poles or screen house poles. Every time I see some I grab them. I put them together to the length I need and tape a coat hanger hook in the end. Oh just a hint, tape the sections together too or you just might end up with a tent pole in the tree next to your rocket (Please don't ask me how I know this)
Bob

 

[Zak Orion]

Originally posted by powderburner
with my luck, if I started cutting down the tree, half-way over the rocket would come loose

it would then fall to the ground, under the spot where the tree was going to land

Had a especially bad day a few months back with the club hanging 5 rockets in trees. The land owner tried to cut one of the trees down but as the tree was falling it hit another tree and the rocket got stuck in the other tree. As for the other ones, 3 are still in trees and another was removed from the tree with a 9mm(one shot, 30ft up hanging on one 1/4" twig).

 

[sandman]

as the tree was falling it hit another tree and the rocket got stuck in the other tree.

Ahhh...in football that's called a "lateral".

sandman

 

[el chubbo]

We were up at NARCON last weekend - someone lost their Cert. rocket to a tree... of course you have to recover the rocket to cert so this was a total loss...

I used to like to climb stationary objects (large trees, stone bridges...)... for a while I used to hit the forest preserve that was across from where we lived in Glen Ellyn, IL and climb the biggest oaks I could find...

For added excitement I used to do this at night....until I found myself "treed" one night by an overly "engaged" couple that decided that MY tree was the one they would lay a blanket underneath.... That was two hours and 15 years later I still have the bark inprints in my butt ...

I swear that I am going to start bringing my gear to launches... 10 to 1 I could have launched a rescue mission.... or at least looked like an idiot trying...

 

[rocketdad0934]

man I like elmers glue it only takes a little mist to make the tree go hungry. I lost my fat boy to a RET and it waaas very damp the next day down came the BT now I only look at the nose cone and shock cord as the parachute ripped free over the winter. I also did what I like to call tree proof all my rockets by untieing the shock cord and with a thin piece of paper and elmers glue the shock cord to the nose cone making a loop large enough to attach the chute/streamer and then (with luck) wait for a damp day and go get ti back (flip tree off asI walk away with rocket).make new chute/streamer aand shock cord and fly again.

 

[scadaman29325]

I remember a pic of a guy shooting his rocket out of a tree with 16 gauge shotgun! I think the caption was something like "It's already dead; worst case, maybe I can get it back wounded".

 

[Bob Stephenson]

"Let the Mr Fat Boy go NOW and no one will get hurt - but we will NOT negotiate your additional fertilizer and water request until you release the hostage!"

(said very loudly through a megaphone and backed up with lots of friends wearing black pajamas, carrying tree saws and chanting 'hut, hut, hut!')



(Evil) Bob

 

[Fishhead]

Attached is a photo of the RET on the Quark range at VOA Park, north of Cincinnati. If you look closely at this picture you can see a Fat Boy, a Venus Probe and the remains of two other rockets. Only the Fat Boy is a long term resident. The others are all fresh kills.

 

[prowlerguy]

My son Chris lost his first rocket to a RET after only a few launches. It was a Quest RTF, but even so it put him off launching any rocket he actually built himself. We couldn't even see it due to foliage. Well, when fall came, we finally were able to spot it, but it remained in the tree, around 75 feet up. Finally, on a lark, I went back after 6 months, and the body was no longer there! After a search of the brush, I found it. I was able to salvage the engine hook, the fin assembly, and the multi-colored wrap from the BT. A new nose cone, new body tube and engine mount, and you really can't tell that this was a restoration job. Chris still hasn't re-flown it, but he now flies his other rockets regularly.

 

[Micromeister]

Originally posted by scadaman29325
I remember a pic of a guy shooting his rocket out of a tree with 16 gauge shotgun! I think the caption was something like "It's already dead; worst case, maybe I can get it back wounded".

Tired it! came away with a bloody, broken nose, bursed shoulder and a sive like bird shot 18" chute...Rocket was blown to tiny bits! A very long and funny story..Far to long to post.. very short version, Hang Vega in 100+foot Oak, Friend gets his Fully choked Goose gun, hands shotgun to never shot a shotgun guy (ME)..Take aim, wrap thumb around stock, back up to Tree trunk.... Badly brused shoulder, broken nose...Totalled model!

Now fishing rods and bungie cords don't usually go together but make a dandy recovery method for those over 30 foot snags: see pic below.. Mean Machine successfully recovered.

I have a 3 section 24' telescoping paint roller handel to which I have attached a 1/4" stanless steel "Hook n pic" rod, with my 6 feet and 3 foot reach that give me about 35 foot of reach form the ground. Works very nicely.
I've also seen folks with 20' bamboo crappie jiggin poles with a tiny hook attached to the end.