Radiosonde 26038283 recovered by KB0DMU & KB0LUV

This is very special find for us. We got to witness this balloon being inflated and dispatched in person during the 10-7-26 open house at the NOAA facility in Valley, NE. The administrator, Jennifer Clason, has been absolutely supportive of our chases and enjoys hearing our stories - sharing them with her staff. We took pictures and video of this radiosonde as it lifted off & 1/2 hour later we began the chase which culminated south of Grant City, MO around 10PM. Since it landed in heavy woods west of Wharton Cemetery, we had to give up the chase & spend the night in Maryville, MO. The GIS info led us to 87 year old Mr. Bill Engel of rural Denver, MO with the largest collection of horse-drawn sleighs in the USA. www.sleighworks.com Thanks to him we were granted permission to search this absolutely massive timbered property. With lilygo coordinates, a 2 mile hike netted me the find way up in a tree. Using my utility knife & bandana, I made a loop on the end of long sapling which allowed me JUST enough length to snag the 20'-up radiosonde and recovery was swift. 2 hours from initial hike to back in the car. This was a chase my wife and I will never forget! If anyone wants help learning more, please contact me via my QRZ page. Always glad to share and don't ever give up just because of trees. Until you find it, you just never know if you'll be able to retrieve it or not.
https://sondehub.org/26038283 #radiosonde #sondeHub