My First Flight and Impression of Skydio 2

[Maxi3D]

Hi, All!
Just had my first flight with my Skydio 2 this morning, and I have some questions and impressions. The drone handles much better with the remote controller than I thought it would be, based on what I heard. The drone is pretty responsive and the transitions from flying to stopping is very smooth. Although, I will need to do some readjustment on the sensitivities on the flight controls. The take off and landings will take getting used to as I am accustomed to using my joy sticks to take off and landings with my DJI drones. Auto landing is not for me.

I am disappointed that Skydio 2 didn't have 2.7K video as 4K is just too wasteful for my use. I have noticed the color is more saturated than my Mavic Air 2. The auto exposure pretty much on the money, although, I will need to get me some ND filers. I did noticed the resolution of the video is not as clear to my eyes as my MA2, even at 4K vs 2.7K on the MA2. I also noticed slight jello effects when the gimbal is pointing straight down and moving forward.

Here are some of my questions:
Is it normal for the drone's gimbal to hang limp while the drone is booting up? I have notice the gimbal doesn't activate until after the drone has taken off. Is that normal?

Edit" Upon talking to Skydio support, the gimbal late activation is normal, which kind of disconcerting when I have the drone in the air and the gimbal hanging limp off one side waiting it to come alive.

The drone tend to wonders by itself after I switched from video mode to picture mode, has anyone noticed that?

Finally, for those who are using landing pad on grass, the drone will sink into the pad and the under swung front propellers will make contact the pad itself.

 

[Ridefreak]

The gimbal will cycle when the drone's booting up but is not visually tracking the subject until it gets about 15 feet away from my hand when launching. You can see the transition in this clip.

If there's any way I catch the drone when landing, good landing areas are rare where I fly.

 

[GSX]

I don't have a 'landing pad', but my S2 lands itself perfectly on its case. The props _are_ too close to the ground, and I've wasted one prop by landing it on a level gravel driveway, where one or a coupe of the stones were sitting high and the S2 tilted when landing.

Maybe I'll figure out how to catch it by hand reliably like I can my Mavics. Meanwhile, it lands on the logo on its case perfectly, or a _clear_ patch of asphalt, but any stone standing higher can tilt it, and I've already chipped a 2nd prop that way...

 

[skydioconvert]

I don't have a 'landing pad', but my S2 lands itself perfectly on its case. The props _are_ too close to the ground, and I've wasted one prop by landing it on a level gravel driveway, where one or a coupe of the stones were sitting high and the S2 tilted when landing.

Maybe I'll figure out how to catch it by hand reliably like I can my Mavics. Meanwhile, it lands on the logo on its case perfectly, or a _clear_ patch of asphalt, but any stone standing higher can tilt it, and I've already chipped a 2nd prop that way...

I can sure understand how uncertain anyone might be in hand launching/landing the Skydio 2 especially given the fact that the forward set of props are on the bottom of the drone and not on the top.

Maybe these links can give you some tips to ease your concern:

Hand Launching and Hand Landing your Skydio 2

Launching and landing Skydio 2 from your hand is a quick and convenient way to start or end your flight, particularly if you can’t find a clear flat spot to take off, but it should be done with cau...

support.skydio.com

 

[GSX]

Thanks muchly for these. I've seen the page with the text instructions, and that caused me to avoid hand launching or landing for a while until I get used to the drone. Usually, I'd rather take off and land my other drones manually with the controller, but the S2 is a different kind of drone, and I'm wanting to get used to flying it with the phone or the beacon before I plug in the remote controller.

The video explains what's not clear in the text.

If anybody's wanting to hand launch or land, and this drone kinda demands it, check out these links...

 

[skydioconvert]

Glad to help....

Even after MANY times of hand launching/landing other types of drones every time I do so there's a bell that goes off and says be careful.

Small baby steps is what has helped me the most.

 

[Ridefreak]

If I couldn't catch it by hand I would have wasted a few props by now. I fly until the battery warning comes on, then I stop jump off my bike and tell the drone to stop it'll keep backing up as you approach it otherwise. Once you get to that point it's pretty easy, the speed of it's descent speed slow enough to prepare as long as there's a little altitude. Start from 8' or below and your time is limited. I've usually got dirt bike gloves on at that point so I don't worry about the props too much but I've done it both ways without an issue. My biggest problem is looking up at the drone while Im approaching it as it's coming down and tripping over something I didn't see right in front of me.

You can see it at the end of this video, no drama.