Stuck!

An essay, by Braden Hancock.

Heading down the runway, gaining speed. Liftoff, altitude higher, higher, stuck! I was flying a 22in. wing span radio control airplane in a parking lot and got my plane stuck in a tree. Should I climb the 30foot tall tree? Maybe I can shake the branch just enough to get the plane down? How much would the fire department make me pay if they came and got the plane down?
My first idea to get the plane down was to climb the tree to get the plane down. After much difficulty I was able to get into the tree. That’s when I realized that there were no excess branches to climb up. My dad, who was there with me went off and found a ladder. The ladder he found was way to short. Next option, can I try to shake the plane loose?
After our first attempt to get the plane down failed, it was time for a trip to ACE Hardware to brainstorm. Ding, new idea, we could shake the tree using a large hook attached to a rope. When we got back to the parking lot I started throwing the hook into the tree trying to catch it on a branch. Failure. Our last chance was to ask the fire department to come get it down for us.
When we got to the fire department I went in and talked to a couple people. One of them said we might as well buy a new plane because it would cost so much for them to get it down. After a little while the chief came down and talked to me for a minute. He said he had an engineer who had not used the ladder truck before. So they decided to come and get the plane down for me. When they got there they put out the stabilizers, and got everything ready on the truck. After about ten to fifteen minutes they were up next to the plane. In about another five to ten minutes they were back on the ground with my airplane.
Through this experience I have learned I need to be more careful about flying into trees. Also another thing I learned was that sometimes firefighters are really busy and other times they have nothing to do. Also sometimes little things like this can help so when the time comes the firefighters will be ready to do their job. A simple little thing like this helped that specific engineer so when the time comes he will be able to operate the ladder properly. Since that day I have not gotten my airplane stuck in a tree.