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The Wanger - A device for rescuing planes from trees!
Posted by Karl Ingersoll on Jul 26, 2002, 12:20
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Tha Wanger: A homemade tool for retrieving tree bound model aircraft.
by Karl Ingersoll
When Greg invited me to join him and Tracy at the Big M this summer, I don’t think he knew what he and Tracy were getting in for. Tracy, in particular, is convinced that I’m not really in control of my little airplane at all. He was particularly concerned when my loops finished behind his head, rather than out in front of the slope where, I gather, most pilots usually do loops. Why he thought that hiding BEHIND me would protect him I’ll never know.
Now the fact that my sweet little HLG ended up in a tree that afternoon might explain my need for the subject of this article. While my piloting judgement might be questioned, my model recovery skills are superb, having been developed and honed over nearly 2 decades of flying perfectly good models into treetops. After a particularly difficult recovery last week I realized that I have NEVER lost a model.
When simply climbing the tree don’t work, my favorite mode of recovery from a tree is to send a line over the branch nearest the model. This is often accomplished with a simple weighted line. A rock, a large nut (the steel variety) a stick..., this last time though, the model ended up beyond the ever decreasing range of my throwing arm so I built THE WANGER. I chose the name mostly to embarrass my teenage daughters. I love to find ways to embarrass them. Just call it payback for the past 18 years.
The Wanger shoots a shaft up into the air (or down the basement hallway and through the side of the wet-bar, if that’s where you’re aiming, though I don’t know why you would be pointing it down the hallway unless of course, you were just testing the pull on the rubber and the bloody thing slipped through your fingers). Now having a device that shoots a shaft into the air can come in handy if you’re trying to get your favorite airplane out of a tree because you can tie a fishing line to the shaft and then a rope to the fishing line, and then, when you have the rope over the branch, and both ends in your hands, wang on the tree branch until it releases your model. If you don’t get your model down, at least you’ll get lots of attention from complete strangers and a really good upper body work-out. Incidentally, If you have access to a bow and arrow with a fishing rig, the bow would undoubtably be a much better option than the Wanger.
Materials:
I made my wanger from what I happened to have laying around. Here’s what I used:
- cedar board (1” x 1 1/8” x 8’)
- 12’ of rubber tubing from a high-start. (mine is old and tired. A bit longer might be suitable if yours is young and fresh)
- A fiberglass ski-pole with the ends cut off
- A spinning reel spooled with heavy monofilament
On the wide side of the board, rout a slot down the center from end to end, 3/16” deep. (The slot a bit less then 1/2 the diameter of the shaft so that whatever line is attached to the shaft, doesn’t get hung up on the sides.) The side with the slot is the “top”. Drill a 1/2” hole from side to side at one end. Center the hole between the bottom of the slot and the bottom edge of your board. There won’t be much material top and bottom, that’s OK.
Tie the ends of the tubing to make a loop. Center the knot in your loop and tie another knot so you have a nice big knot with two loops of equal length on each side of it. Thread one end of the loop through the hole in the end of your wanger. Situate it so that the knot is wedged in the hole with equal loops hanging out each side.
Fashion a notch in one end of your shaft, just like an arrow notch. On the same plane as the notch, Drill a small hole, just large enough for your fishing line or other small diameter line. Tie your line to the shaft.
OK, your ready to try out you wanger. A few caveats:
Think of this thing as a weapon and treat it accordingly. My tone has been humorous, but this is in fact a spear gun capable of serious injury. Don’t get the line wrapped around your finger before you fire. Your fingers work much better when attached to your hand. Other apendages too, like ears... Make sure your line is free, bail open. You probably don’t want your fishing reel to end up in the tree too. I used some heavy rocks to secure my reel some distance behind me, that worked OK. You could have someone hold it for you, but if you’re like me, no one in the family has the patience to do this with you. I have also thought of mounting it on the end of the wanger, but haven’t tried that idea yet. Test the range. You might be surprised how far it shoots. Adjust the length of the rubber to adjust the range. Shooting farther than needed complicates retrieval.
To use:
Find something to brace the end.
Secure the reel and open the bail
Notch the rubber into the shaft, noting where your line will run. Draw back your shaft and let it fly. Try again Try again When you succeed in getting the line in a suitable place, cut the shaft free of the line (don’t let it go), tie a heavier line to the end of your mono and pull your heavier line backwards with the reel till you have both ends of the heavy line in your hand. Start wanging on the line to free your model.
Proper Wanging technique is crucial. If you get the tree branch oscillating nicely, then surprise the tree with an “out of beat” yank, it will often become so confused and frightened that it will forget about your model for a moment and let it slip. Sometimes, you can forget the wanging all together and just “jump rope” the rope and whack the model with the rope.
Happy hunting.
Karl
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