These updates will read better if you start from the first Drone Failure post. This is first update.
So, the recovery team headed out this morning with a world of gear to try and figure out where the drone was and what it would take to recover it. Greddy Arias, the FCRE property manager and his assistant Carlos went along to do all the logistics as for landowner permission and access and all that. Neither Don nor Guy speak much Spanish, and Greddy and Carlos speak very little English.
The hike to the tree that the GPS said the drone was in was brutal, or so they say. Someone had to work with the students while this little side adventure was going on, so I had an enjoyable day chasing down leaf cutter ant nests with MJ and Amanda.
And the initial recon proved that the airplane was so high up in the top of a dominant canopy tree that they couldn't even see it. They verified that it was there by having it run and could hear it up there somewhere. As seen in the previous post, yes, it is right up on top.
So the tree would need climbed and... this was no ordinary tree. It has thousands of giant thorns all over the trunk and main branches. The team returned back and got lots of ropes and cobbled together some tree-climbing gear and eventually headed out again. Here is a still shot from one of the videos of Guy van Rentergem climbing.
So, the recovery team headed out this morning with a world of gear to try and figure out where the drone was and what it would take to recover it. Greddy Arias, the FCRE property manager and his assistant Carlos went along to do all the logistics as for landowner permission and access and all that. Neither Don nor Guy speak much Spanish, and Greddy and Carlos speak very little English.
The hike to the tree that the GPS said the drone was in was brutal, or so they say. Someone had to work with the students while this little side adventure was going on, so I had an enjoyable day chasing down leaf cutter ant nests with MJ and Amanda.
And the initial recon proved that the airplane was so high up in the top of a dominant canopy tree that they couldn't even see it. They verified that it was there by having it run and could hear it up there somewhere. As seen in the previous post, yes, it is right up on top.
So the tree would need climbed and... this was no ordinary tree. It has thousands of giant thorns all over the trunk and main branches. The team returned back and got lots of ropes and cobbled together some tree-climbing gear and eventually headed out again. Here is a still shot from one of the videos of Guy van Rentergem climbing.
Guy van Rentergem well up the tree with the drone stuck at the top.
And here is one of the videos. There is a much better one but it is too long to post from here. I'll link to it when it is available. The video was shot by Don McFarlane and is posted on Guy's YouTube channel GVR63
More to come on this tomorrow.
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