Alpine white Mavic Pro finds new home 70ft up in a tree

[hammerhead09]

Well, after a little more than 3yrs of flying I was dumb and got my drone stuck in a tree. I won't go into details but I was camping last week and threw the drone into sport mode and was flying towards a row of trees and wound up pulling up too late and clipped the top of a tree and got it stuck. Tried for a while to get it down but wasn't able to and had to make the 2hr drive home the next morning and had no choice but to leave it in the tree. It's since snowed and rained and I'm sure it's not worth paying to have a tree service come get it and then have it repaired (if possible). So, I'm here trying to make my 10 post quota so that I can offer up what I have left. Anyway, being over confident is never a good thing. Fly safe!

 

[bumper]

Sorry. There are things to try that may or may not work. Slingshot with small weight and sturdy fishing line. If you can get it over the branch or nearly so, use the thin line to pull up and over an approx 1/4" nylon rope. When you have both ends of the nylon rope, yank and shake. Repeat as needed.

There are limb cutting cables (camping wire saws etc), one might include that with the nylon rope to pull up and over - - then saw through the limb or the branch etc. - - probably better with two people. Have a good vocabulary of inappropriate language available.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Dont be so quick to Write off your drone to to Rain and snow as the battery may be compromised but the drone might be fine as we fly the Mavic Pro in the Rain and its pretty good .

Dont let that be the single biggest reason for not attempting to get your drone back,

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic Pro in the Rain and Snow

 

[Made2Phly]

I echo phantomrain that the weather might not have killed it. I drove a 1000 miles to rescue an MP that had sat in rain and misty Michigan moisture for a week. Dried ’er out and to this day she flies true. The MP is one tough bird. For the rescue story, see:

Would You Drive A Thousand Miles for a Free Mavic Pro?

Would you drive a 1000 miles for a free Mavic? I did, but it was closer to 1500 miles round trip. Here’s the story. This past Wednesday, well respected forum member Radio Flyer Man, aka John, started a thread named “Free Mavic Pro Platinum”. His opening line was “There is a Mavic Pro Platinum...

mavicpilots.com

 

[NDWildBill]

I got my first drone (an inexpensive Holystone) stuck way up in a tree after flying it for about 3 weeks. I gave up on it, and purchased a Mavic Mini. A month later, I get an email that someone had found my drone...tracked me down via the registration number. Apparently the drone had gotten blown out of the tree during a thunder storm, and was found on the ground by another drone pilot. The moral of the story is don't give up. As and aside, Holystone had sent me an email asking if I wanted to purchase and extended warranty. I replied that my drone was in a tree, so no warranty was necessary. They sent me a brand new drone. I sold both the Holystones and now have a Mavic Air 2 and a Mavic mini.

 

[Mavic Air Head]

Throwing/slingshotting a weight and pulling in rope may be easy enough, but I've found the clutter of tree canopy can make being precise enough to get the right branch pretty tough. I'm also very good at wrapping weights around branches and sticking my string in trees. You can buy 10 foot sections of plastic electrical conduit and a roll of duct tape pretty cheaply. What I have done successfully if the drone can be seen is join the sections of conduit together in the built in couplings and tape rather than glue the joints and push the conduit toward the drone like a pool cue. As you gain length you can use the wave lengths the pipe makes when you push or pull the end against a branch/fulcrum to direct it to the drone. Once you knock it loose you can remove sections of conduit to knock it loose from lower branches if it get's hung up again. I used 3/4 inch conduit to free a cheap drone from a 90 foot Lombardy Poplar for the rigidity it offered over 1/2 inch, but if you can direct it through good branches that will support it some, 1/2 inch is completely adequate. You may be able to aim straight up, or come from the opposite side of the tree to utilize branches to accurately direct the conduit.
This method is all contingent on being able to see the drone of course. The shape and structure of the tree may make recovery this way impossible. At 70 foot it may be helpful to have a spotter help you directing the pipe. As others have noted above, you would be surprised how much weather a drone can withstand if it is not in an unfavorable position. If you can, do it as soon as possible while you remember where it is. I've found that areas start to look very different on subsequent trips as seasons change if you don't recall clear landmarks and position.
For anyone reading this who hasn't yet gotten trapped in a tree, take a lot of pictures on your phone if you have to leave the bird to get other resources to recover it. You'll be glad you did.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I would keep it simple, offer $100 to someone in the area on Craigslist that will meet you out there and get it down, others have more tools on the ready .

Good Luck.
Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain / Snow and land On Water.

 

[hammerhead09]

Considering a recon mission thanks to all of your replies - I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again guys.

 

[hammerhead09]

Well, my buddy surprised me this weekend. He took his kids on the 2.5hr trip to the campground where my drone was, used and 8ft slingshot and was able to get my drone down! It's been stuck in the tree since Feb 6th and I was so surprised that the battery still had some charge left in it. Well, it lights up. Not sure if it will hold a charge. Anyway, the gimbal is dangling by the wires and the back right arm is broken and one of the props is broken but other than that it seems to be ok. I opened a case with DJI and will be sending it to them for repair. Not sure what the cost will be as I'm not totally sure of the extent of damage other than what I can see externally but we'll see what they say.