Jamie Hyneman tries to trim the tops of trees with a quadcopter

Looks like here is one accident. Tree clearing by hand and lift truck is very dangerous, so helicopters are probably safer, but I still think someone should be watching the saw, and one flying the copter.

Look at this! A hunter, on his own land was in a tree stand when one of these came by. He jumped out, but the saw got his tree stand and crossbow. Never thought about that.

The saw’s motion is entirely dependent on the helicopter’s motion, so I don’t think it’s possible to control the two independently. I suppose you could have a second guy along as a spotter, just keeping an eye around, but I would guess that the long-ass cable serves to keep the helicopter well above potential hazards to the front, back, and sides, and the down-looking pilot is very much aware of obstacles below.

Which isn’t to say that it’s what you might call safe. I’m just not sure a second person would improve things any.

Trying to wrap my head around this kind of failure mode: If the saw got tangled, wouldn’t it be safer for it to detach and fall on its own, rather than bring down the helicopter with it? But I still couldn’t visualize what was happening g until I looked up the company:
Aerial_Tree_Trimming.mpg: https://youtu.be/4eOMeTERnhs

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