Yesterday I was practicing high speed bypass with my wing. And I hit pine tree on full speed, about 30 ft above the ground. The wing hit the tree very hard and stuck in there! My lines of thought were: I have to get it down from the tree before battery completely discharged and second thought was I have no idea how to do that.
I went home and came back with folding ladder, flash light (it was getting dark) and aluminum pole for replacing light bulbs. Unfolded ladder, climbed on it, extended pole and realized I am 10 ft short. Darn! Then it strikes me: fire department! They get kittens off the trees! And I have whole airplane stuck there! Worth ten kittens of electronics alone and I am not even speaking about emotional attachment to that plane! I called my friend who lived in that area and asked him where is the closest fire station? Jumped in the car, get there and talk to a fireman guy. Well, he said nowadays they don't even take off adult cats from trees anymore. It had to be real emergency for them to do anything and with gas prices like now - no way. One recommendation he had is to ask some kid to climb the tree to get the plane. He said kids do tree climbing very well! He didn’t say next out loud but I sensed a hint in his voice if kid stuck on the tree that will declare a real emergency and they will bring tall ladder. I did not have any kids nearby who'd risk their life and expecting me to pay for the rest of my life if something happened. May be because it was dark already and all kids were in beds? That left me with next option – 24hr Wal-Mart.
I walked to the swimming pool isle to find they are out of telescopic pool brush poles. Painting did not have anything long either. But to my surprise fishing department had 13' telescopic fishing rods for $6! I got two rods, roll of duct tape and get back to the site. Extended two parts on one rod, completely extended another rod, taped everything to the light bulb changing pole, extended ladder and I was able to touch the wing! After about hour and a half of stick poking, bark swallowing, pinecones head massaging and eyes dusting I got the plane down. That was the brightest moment of the evening! I was hoping to recover at least receiver and speed controller. After brief inspection I found a little crack on the skin at the nose area and small cracks at the aileron hinge areas. That was it! I couldn't believe it is possible! Any other aircraft hitting pine tree at full speed would become a mashed potato! For a moment I had a small devil sitting on my left shoulder giggling "you still have your transmitter with you, don’t you?” May be it was already dark or 12:30am but I decided I had enough adventure for tonight and it's time to go home.

So the moral of the story – wear clear protective glasses when poking with the stick and looking up the tree!

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Gotta hand it to you, you are one determined SOB.

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Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when her mother is feeling chilly. ~Ambrose Bierce

Clever solution, Sergey.  Look at it this way...  a tree is a pretty good place to hide from the relatives.  ;)

Bagel Roll:

Gotta hand it to you, you are one determined SOB.

Hehe

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Leah:

Clever solution, Sergey.  Look at it this way...  a tree is a pretty good place to hide from the relatives.  ;)

Or may be... ;)

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_Sergey_:

Leah:

Clever solution, Sergey.  Look at it this way...  a tree is a pretty good place to hide from the relatives.  ;)

Or may be... ;)

Oh, no! Get some more vodka.

Muidugi:

_Sergey_:

Leah:

Clever solution, Sergey.  Look at it this way...  a tree is a pretty good place to hide from the relatives.  ;)

Or may be... ;)

Oh, no! Get some more vodka.

That could lead to falling out of the tree... 

_Sergey_:

Well, he said nowadays they don't even take off adult cats from trees anymore.

What is the cut-off age, and how does the fire department verify it? 

If the cat is determined to be older than stated, do they put it back on the tree?

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"Я это понимаю на рациональном уровне, но не могу принять на эмоциональном" --Бизнесмен Борис Березовский

Egor:

_Sergey_:

Well, he said nowadays they don't even take off adult cats from trees anymore.

What is the cut-off age, and how does the fire department verify it? 

If the cat is determined to be older than stated, do they put it back on the tree?

Egor, they do not rescue ANY cats anymore.

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_Sergey_:

they do not rescue ANY cats anymore.

Criminals.  Cat rescue should be their highest priority. 

i never understood why the cats don't come down on their own.  I wonder if this situation has been rectified somewhat by the refusal of the fire departments to continue being manipulated by the feline population.

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"Я это понимаю на рациональном уровне, но не могу принять на эмоциональном" --Бизнесмен Борис Березовский

1-  Fear

2-  Because it is much easier to get yourself into a situation than it is to get out of it. 

Leah:

1-  Fear

2-  Because it is much easier to get yourself into a situation than it is to get out of it. 

of course it is if the fire dept comes to get you down. 

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"Я это понимаю на рациональном уровне, но не могу принять на эмоциональном" --Бизнесмен Борис Березовский

Interesting..... If I was in the situation like this I would have :

a. Claimed the tree myself

or

b. Gotten chainsaw and cut the tree.... (or did it the old fashion way - with the ax, I even know someone with a very good axe... and lots of alcohol )

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- Независимость - это когда в 20-й раз наступаешь на одни и те же грабли, а русские уже ни при чем....

А можно было попробовать сильную водную струю (аппаратом, которым обычно дома моют) Какой бы еще был фан - весь мокрый вдобавок!!!