Cool footage of Mavic rescuing the Spark after it fell from sky onto a water tower-

Great story (sorry for your mate) and a great salvage operation, it's good to have a "big brother" at hand from time to time.

Is that really a water tower?  It looks more like some other kind of storage tank to me.

The youtube poster says the location is La Habra Heights, CA.  I did some poking around but couldn't find much info.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-26 07:38
Is that really a water tower?  It looks more like some other kind of storage tank to me.

The youtube poster says the location is La Habra Heights, CA.  I did some poking around but couldn't find much info.

Water towers use gravity to feed the system, this tank is already higher than the service area and so has no need of legs.

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-9-26 08:08
Water towers use gravity to feed the system, this tank is already higher than the service area and so has no need of legs.

Certainly, and I did take note of the terrain in the video.  It was just the general construction of the thing that had me scratching my head, not the lack of legs.  For one, the vent on top.  Lack of a city name or utility name on the side (how are pilots supposed to know what town they're flying over??).  And painted pure white like fuel tanks usually are.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-26 08:12
Certainly, and I did take note of the terrain in the video.  It was just the general construction of the thing that had me scratching my head, not the lack of legs.  For one, the vent on top.  Lack of a city name or utility name on the side (how are pilots supposed to know what town they're flying over??).  And painted pure white like fuel tanks usually are.

Out of curiosity I fired up Bing/Maps bird view and took a look at the area -- there are tons of these things all over the place, just a few that look very similar in design to the one in the video:

33.958553, -117.999939
33.970791, -118.008598
33.964424, -117.991119

I guess in the desert the color white has advantages in heat management.

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-9-26 08:57
Out of curiosity I fired up Bing/Maps bird view and took a look at the area -- there are tons of these things all over the place, just a few that look very similar in design to the one in the video:

33.958553, -117.999939

Definitely white has its advantages for heat management, and not just for the desert.  Here in the cold midwest many tanks are painted white for heat reasons (not water though).  Since water doesn't really expand and isn't under pressure, I'm not sure why a water tank would be painted white.  Sure, residents wouldn't want hot water flowing out of their cold taps, but I can only assume that the water would be cool after spending all that time in transit underground?

I wouldn't really expect "tons of them" all over the place if they were water tanks, but I have no clue about the area.  In my short attempt to locate some information though, I did find out that the area used to be covered with oil wells.

Great catch.
How was the Spark?

Great story (sorry for your mate)

How was the Spark?

Guys DJ Enertia (from Austrialia) just posted the link to the youtube video.  The person who filmed the video and posted it to youtube lives has an American accent.  It is highly unlikely that DJ Enertia knows anything about how the Spark turned out and I don't think he has a mate flying around near tanks in California.  Of course I could be wrong.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-26 09:01
Definitely white has its advantages for heat management, and not just for the desert.  Here in the cold midwest many tanks are painted white for heat reasons (not water though).  Since water doesn't really expand and isn't under pressure, I'm not sure why a water tank would be painted white.  Sure, residents wouldn't want hot water flowing out of their cold taps, but I can only assume that the water would be cool after spending all that time in transit underground?

I wouldn't really expect "tons of them" all over the place if they were water tanks, but I have no clue about the area.  In my short attempt to locate some information though, I did find out that the area used to be covered with oil wells.

I was thinking tons being around due to desert location and thus an increased need? You wouldn't expect fuel or chemical tanks outside of industrial parks.

I have some POI flight video  of a water tower discharging a stream of water, presumably due to overpressure from summer heat. Guess it could've been a pumping problem, or maybe prep for inspection/service. Whatever it was, it looked pretty cool. ;)

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-9-26 11:46
I have some POI flight video  of a water tower discharging a stream of water, presumably due to overpressure from summer heat. Guess it could've been a pumping problem, or maybe prep for inspection/service. Whatever it was, it looked pretty cool. ;)

Where exactly was this stream of water coming from?  Straight out the top where you'd normally expect there to be nothing but air inside?

As for these CA tanks, I guess I'll just have to settle with it being a mystery for now.  Certainly they could be for water, I mean California needs all that water in the desert so they can grow water-intensive crops where they don't belong, you know.  And then they moan about water shortages.

Maybe the tanks are all painted white because the state of California has decided that every other color of paint causes cancer and reproductive harm.  Who knows.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-26 12:00
Where exactly was this stream of water coming from?  Straight out the top where you'd normally expect there to be nothing but air inside?

As for these CA tanks, I guess I'll just have to settle with it being a mystery for now.  Certainly they could be for water, I mean California needs all that water in the desert so they can grow water-intensive crops where they don't belong, you know.  And then they moan about water shortages.

Yeah, a vent pipe from the top. Really need to edit and post that some day.

I think they need the tanks for all those pools. I think there were a few clustered near that first location.

Nice rescue

Cooll!!!!!!

Impressive

I always like to see when a great rescue comes together.

Sry for late reply ...no its not my video i found it on youtube and wanted to share the story.Also the Spark apparently from the comments under the video was fine it flew again no problems, they were not sure why the Spark fell out of the sky some suggested possible cell tower interference some suggested maybe the pilot accidentally engaged motor shut-off.. tho the pilot also stated he wasn't aware how to shut off the motors mid air ..so possible pilot error ..maybe?.The pilots were going to look into the logs but not much more come of it...some later suggested the whole thing may be fake and set up..but to me it looked pretty legit..why would u risk losing your drone and from that height risk more damage.The spark after it crashed was on its back...the Mavic almost loss grip when it seems the Spark slid down little on the rescue line half way back to safety.Cool video

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-26 12:00
Where exactly was this stream of water coming from?  Straight out the top where you'd normally expect there to be nothing but air inside?

As for these CA tanks, I guess I'll just have to settle with it being a mystery for now.  Certainly they could be for water, I mean California needs all that water in the desert so they can grow water-intensive crops where they don't belong, you know.  And then they moan about water shortages.

Finbally got around to digging up that venting water tower video, here's a screengrab:

Brothers' can count on each other. Way to go !

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-10-1 14:00
Finbally got around to digging up that venting woter tower video, here's a screengrab:

[view_image]

Interesting picture.  I have a few civil engineer types in mind that I can ask about why that might be happening.