Episode #10: The Tree That Caught My Drone

 I have been flying a drone for about 9 years and have taken lots of pictures and videos of many of the sites of interest around the area and I have really enjoyed this new hobby. As a kid, I loved flying a kite, and I have said many times a drone is a kite for an adult. One day in the fall of 2017 I decided to drive up to Carpenter's Bluff north of Denison. There is an old iron truss bridge there that was used for vehicle use to cross the Red River to and from Oklahoma/Texas. A joint venture between TxDOT and ODOT resulted in a new bridge a couple of hundred yards from the old iron bridge and is now just a local attraction and you can walk across the river now on this old bridge.

I arrived very early that morning in hopes of getting there before it got windy as the previous several days had been very windy by mid morning. I got the drone out, connected to the controller and ready to fly. I started across the length of the bridge from above but the wind was whipping pretty hard by then. I brought it back to me and decided to fly lower and within the trusses hoping the wind would be less of an impact at a lower altitude. I started across the bridge at about 6' above the bridge deck. After about 15' the drone headed straight to the left and was outside the trusses very quickly. I had no directional control for some reason. I wondered if the gyro in the drone was affected with all the iron all around. 

I panicked and could do nothing to correct my course so I immediately tried to land as quickly as possible. The bridge is quite high above the river and the surrounding bottom area so before I knew it, I was landed and wedged in the branches of a tree. There was a lot of very thick under growth and small trees in the entire area. I found a large stick and used it as a pointer in the direction of the tree the drone was landed in so I could find it from the bottom area. Fortunately for me, that tree was on dry ground.

By the time I found the tree I find it was 75' or so away from the bridge and in a tree about 40' tall. As I surveyed the area and the tree it was in I find there were no limbs for 20' or more above the ground. There was no way to throw a rope or any other way to reach it. I was about to lose this drone if I didn't come up with something. That something may be illegal, but I was going to get that drone. 

I called my son and asked him to go to my house and get my chainsaw and bring it to me asap and told him where I was, what happened and what I was about to do. The drone was in a tree on property owned by the Corps of Engineers and I was about to cut this tree down. 

It seemed like an eternity waiting on him to arrive but it had only been about an hour and a half. I was glad there were no people at the bridge at that time of the morning and it was a very quiet and peaceful time of the day. Now when I fired up that chainsaw it sounded like an tank with no muffler running at full speed! The engine sound echoed off the river water and that old iron bridge and I just knew  somebody was going to show up carrying a badge with more questions than I had answers.

I dropped that tree really fast and it landed softly on the lower trees and under brush. I scurried over, grabbed the drone and got out of there fast, quick and in a hurry. Needless to say, I wasn't taking even 10 seconds to snap a picture of the drone in the tree on the ground. We hopped in our pick ups and were out of there before you could yell TIMBER!!

After it was over and we got home, I realized I had potentially recruited my son into a life of crime as it is strictly prohibited to cut any tree on property owned by the Corps of Engineers without written permission, and I wasn't taking time to write a letter. But we got out of there and captured a only a few pictures, but I got the drone.

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