Lost my Gnome – sniff – R.I.P.

[Shreve]

Was out this past Sunday flying my 14-year old Gnome off a mini start. Winds 5-10 mph. First flight no problem. Did a little zoom off the line and she was really up there. Definite signs of thermal activity, too. Second flight launch was the same, but after a minute or so, the Gnome was getting near the edge of the flying field, which is surrounded by residential neighborhoods. I tried to get her back, but it kept drifting farther away, coming down at the same time. It was also clear I had no real control at this point. Down behind the treeline. AAARRRGH! I immediately began a search based on what I observed, and found nothing. Trees, rooftops, bushes, yards, nothing. I gave up after about two hours, totally bummed. I guess if nothing else, I should have put a business card in the cockpit. Went back Monday because I couldn’t believe I couldn’t find a 60” bright yellow sailplane, but same results. I doubt if someone snatched it that fast. Guess it’s part of the hobby, but it still hurts to have a plane that long, and lose it this way.

PS – control system was fairly new, the Gnome is a great flyer and built to last, too.

http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL524/634537/7095200/92045462.jpg

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[oracle_9]

Put a flyers and say you have a reward waiting.

[Shreve]

Good idea. Will give a go.

[balsaaddict]

Nice looking airplane - I hope you find it. I had the 2M with spoilers very strong wing.
Good luck.

[LVsoaring]

Sorry to hear of your loss. Hope you are soon reunited with it! Nobody likes to lose an airplane, whether from a crash, or from wandering away from the master!

Rick

[arukum17]

Keep your hopes up - if you fly as part of a club there is a small chance that someone will find it on his rooftop and return it to the chairman of the club

....I recovered by flyaway Spirit that way...although she was not in a pretty shape from the spiral dive....

[Shreve]

UPDATE!! GNOME SPOTTED!

I took oracle 9s advice and did the flyer/reward idea, and sure enough, last Sunday I got the call. A guy spotted a wing half peeking out from a maple tree. Dash over to the area and sure enough, there it was. It's about 50' up. I looked in that tree before, with no luck, so I guess wind may have moved it. I lined up a tree surgeon friend who said he'd make an attempt this weekend. We have had some bad rains since I lost her. Not sure how monokote will stand up. At east the battery is discharged! :rolleyes: More to follow with pics.

Keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks all!

[oracle_9]

Wonderful news Shreve, glad it worked!

[IBWALT]

Congrats on the find. How far was it from where you were flying. I was once told that most fly aways are found withing 400 yards or so of where they were last seen from. Any truth to this.

Walt

[Curare]

Lost my favourite plane about a week ago, and I took solace in your plight, and did the same thing.

Good to see you got your baby back:)



Lets hope I'm as lucky as you:)

[Shreve]

Congrats on the find. How far was it from where you were flying. I was once told that most fly aways are found withing 400 yards or so of where they were last seen from. Any truth to this.

Walt

In my case, you are correct, sir. Across the street from the flying field, the tree is perhaps 100 feet in. Going back tonite to check on her!

[arukum17]

Prior to my Spirit flyaway (and recovery) it was also caught in a tree...
...it will come down eventually and the damage will be fixable...

recovered lost planes have more character :)

[Shreve]

http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL524/634537/7095200/191175396.jpg

[slopemeno]

Hey, let me pass on my voluminous experience of getting planes out of trees (since our slope has a line of 80' tall trees right behind the LZ)

Get a wham-o wrist rocket and a cheap open-face fishing reel. If you want to make a dedicated rig cut off the top of the reel mount and glue the stem inside the wrist rocket handle.

Use 100# line, and a 1 oz sinker. Open the bail on the reel, and shoot the line over the tree. You should be able to get over a 100' tree wih this setup.
If the 100# test is too light, shoot it over, tie some 1/4" polypropelene rope to the line, and drag it over the tree. Have a friend man the other end of the line, and pull back and forth in a sawing fashion. Try to not have the line directly on the plane, but out the branch a little, so you can shake the branch.

I thought the owner of this setup had a screw loose the first time he brought it out, but it works very well, particularly in trees with lots of thin branches. In a tree with sturdier branches, I would call the arborist.

[may fly]

Glad you found it. I've gotten them down by shooting the branch with a heavy rifle. With a good aim and something like a 300 WM, you can cut branches up to about 3". However if you're in town, this might not be a good idea.

[Wylie Shaw]

Glad you found it. I've gotten them down by shooting the branch with a heavy rifle. With a good aim and something like a 300 WM, you can cut branches up to about 3". However if you're in town, this might not be a good idea.


YOU THINK!!!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: If your gonna do it that way why stop at a little bitty 300 WM....ya gotta thing big like a 155 mm Howitzer that'll bring er down.... :D :D


glad you found it....


Wylie

[Shreve]

LOL! Since the tree is in a yard that is full of children's toys, might have to pass on the firearm approach. :eek:

Thanks, slopemeno, great info. I'm heading to the sportings goods store tonite to give your approach a go. Marksmen slingshot and the cheapest reel I can find will be my weapons of choice. :)

[slopemeno]

The running joke at our slope is "Anybody know where I can rent a chainsaw?..."

Actually, you'll find the wrist rocket is a handy thing to leave in the trunk of your car during flying season. Handy for keeping kids out of your yard as well...

[rdwoebke]

Another thing you could do. Ask around to see if anybody you know is into "repelling".

I had a friend that parked his speed 400 glider in the top of about an 80 foot high tree. I had a coworker that was big into climbing and caving. He said he could get it. He takes this big sling shot out, and shoots a climbing line over a solid branch. Then, he checks the strenght and secures things and inches his way up the climbing line (all the while hanging from some contraption). When he reached the top of the branch, he pulls a collapsable pole out of his packpack, assembles the pole, reaches out an hooks the plane. Then, he flicks a switch on the contraption and sort of "elevators" down while holding the plane. Very sweet.

Ryan

[oracle_9]

Well, we have all these r/c HELI people, why not construst a apparatus to the bottom of the heli, like a CLAMP and a strong servo to open and close the clamp via another transmitter. Since the wing tip is in the open, fly the heli up and try to pick it off the tree. But I suggest a larger r/c heli to hold the weight.

[rdwoebke]

Well, we have all these r/c HELI people,

There is a phrase that goes something like "throwing good money after bad"....

:)

But if you can convince an rc heli pilot to try that, more power to you!

Ryan

[slopemeno]

Actually, we have this heli guy named Travis who also flies slope, and he has a great digital camera/ realtime video downlink setup on his heli. Its the total hot setup for finding lost planes in the heavy brush out at our slope! I KNEW those things were good for something!

[pitviper51]

thsi is a good story, glad it was found!! early this year a guy in my club took his glider up on the back of a telemaster, soon after release the thing glitched out,, and slowly circled down wind tell it was out of site,, so the search party set out,, and after a 3 miles hike in a organic land fill it was found, with one wing snapped off,, but has since flown again,, all wasy check those battrys
mike

[Ercoupe Ed]

I once lost a 1/2 A free flight starduster.
It landed 35 miles away, in a farmers field along with 3 other models that all went up in the same thermal, they all came down within about 300 feet of each other. Takeoff point was Grand Ledge Michigan national guard helicopter field. Got it back two weeks later via UPS.
Was in good shape, just a couple of very minor holes in the wings.
Happened about 40 years ago! LOL!

Ed

[Shreve]

FINAL GNOME UPDATE

Well, I lined up a friend who’s an arborist to climb up and fetch the Gnome. It had actually moved lower, and was more inside the tree, maybe 40’ up. He said no sweat, just get the land owners’ permission, even though the plane was directly overhead from the street. Well, this clown says no dice, he doesn’t want anyone climbing his tree, claiming the wood was “soft.” The only thing soft was his jacka$$ head! I go away bummed, and write off the Gnome. It’s been up there a couple weeks now, so I try to put it out of my mind. Next day, I go online and order a new Gnome kit. At the same time, just for fun, I Google “telescopic pole,” and what have we here: a “Wonderpole” that’ll go up 40’. I’m over 6’ so that should do it. I could stand on the street and knock it out. It arrives a couple days later, and in the pouring rain on a Friday lunch hour, I am successful! After a couple days drying out, I strip the plane and assess the damage from over 3 weeks up in a tree:

The tailfeathers had broken off from the fuse and were hanging by the control rods. Amazingly, no other damage.
Fuse was a total goner. Water damage and nearly busted in two.
Wing, aside from some water damage on 1 tip, no other damage. It was a bear to unscrew it from the fuse, as the threaded block had swollen around the nylon wing hold down bolt from the rain.

Soooo, when the new Gnome kit arrives, I’ll scratchbuild a new fuse, using the kit parts as templates. It’s a pretty simple box structure.

THE 14-YEAR OLD PLANE WILL AGAIN FLY!!

Thanks all.

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[arukum17]

you dont need a new fuse - the one you have appears super easy to fix

she WILL fly - hooray

[pitviper51]

good to see it was finally retreaved,, kinda neat how the simplist methodes can be the most effective hehe, good luck on the rebuild
mike