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Video: Helicopter Rescues RC Model Airplane from Trees

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A flight instructor and student in a Robinson R22 helicopter successfully rescued a crashed RC P-51 model from treetops.
  • The incident, despite its successful outcome, sparks a debate on flight safety, risk assessment, and the potential for bravado in aviation.
  • The article questions whether the impromptu maneuver was a demonstration of good airmanship or an unnecessarily risky decision, leaving it to the reader to decide.
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This video is almost sure to start a lively debate on safety. A flight instructor and student in a Robinson R22 with an onboard video camera are shown flying over a group of RC modelers, and one of the men notes that a P-51 scale model has crashed into the treetops. They decide to descend and pluck the model from the branches.

The operation is successful and everyone leaves happy, especially the men in the helicopter (caution: strong language in the video as they express how cool it was). But some might question, “What if the maneuver had resulted in an accident?”

Mark Phelps

Mark Phelps is a senior editor at AVweb. He is an instrument rated private pilot and former owner of a Grumman American AA1B and a V-tail Bonanza.

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