Skydio 2 Warranty from Crash - Thoughts? Experience?

[DroneGuy007]

Hello,

Bare with me this is a good chunk to read. I appreciate the help, tips, advice, experience.

Just had my first flight with my Skydio 2. Anyways, it crashed in an open field with no trees or obstacles in sight. I was not in the mountains but trails, flat trails on a frozen lake with snow. I am pretty bummed. Kept flying after the crash though so props to Skydio.

I was going fast on a snowmachine, probably 40-50mph in a straight line. It was doing fine for the most part then out of the blue just crashed. My wife watched it happen as she was riding behind me. I was flying before that in the same area with no problems.

Reached out to Skydio and was told if it is under warranty I will have to cover the repair cost?! The video I have have did not catch the crash because it did multiple small clips(my settings were on auto record?!). However, it seems the flight logs are full clips but I cannot watch them from what I can see from uploading flight logs from beacon to Skydio Support. I was flying on a frozen lake with snow on top of it so you did not even know it was a frozen lake. The customer support representative tried telling me not to fly over a body of water longer than 30 feet. I told the representative that it was a large body of water but it was frozen and covered in snow so you did not even know it was a lake unless you dug out the snow. Hopefully, that does not gig me?

They will be reviewing the flight logs soon, as I just sent them to support. Another thing I noticed before the flight was I could not get the drone to connect to the phone that was red flag number one. It was my first flight how should I know? Did not matter because I do not need the phone if just flying with a beacon and it did fine for the most part. Red flag number 2 is my footage is all small clips even though my recording is set to auto. I only flew with the beacon. I do not have Skydio Premier Support. Shouldn't Skydio cover this? Seems there are a few glitches. Also, my propellors get in the footage sometimes on sharp turns. For a side note, the beacon was on my wrist out in the open not obstructed or by my phone electronics, etc. I was using motion tracking. I also continued to fly the drone with the same battery after the crash so it was not low on battery. The drone landed in tough snow with the gimbal facing up (thankfully) I do not see any physical damage but I did notice the gimbal seemed a bit jerky after this? I told this to the representative.

Thoughts?!

 

[Saladshooter]

I noticed before the flight was I could not get the drone to connect to the phone that was red flag number one.

Make sure if you have iPhone that you are using the official cable. Its the only one that works. If you are using an android phone, unplugging and plugging back in usually works but if not.... try a different cable.

Red flag number 2 is my footage is all small clips even though my recording is set to auto.

Footage will be broken up into smaller clips.... usually a few gigs per file. Its a limitation of SD card recordings. They combine easily when editing in post..... if they are tiny clips then its an error.

Also, my propellors get in the footage sometimes on sharp turns

I have never seen props in my shots from the Skydio so this is alarming.

 

[VEGASROBBI]

I was going fast on a snowmachine, probably 40-50mph.

Tracking speed of the S2 is 36 mph(last I checked), props may have been in the shot due to the extreme angle it had to fly at to keep up.

 

[Ridefreak]

The couple times I crashed mine was going fast, not as fast as DroneGuy but I had the height floor turned off and as it's zooming to catch up it crashed. I considered that my fault, I learned to turn on the height floor when I was asking it to keep up at speed which is all the time for me. I know that's not the same situation and a frozen lake isn't like flying over water at all. I hope they take care of you. If my experience and if from what I've seen on here is any indication I think they'll help you out. Let me add that mine has hit the ground more then a couple times for various reasons, no damage to the drone except props. My first reaction in that situation wasn't to send it back, I knew I was pushing it's limits. The drone flew well for over a year afterwards so I'm convinced those situations were mostly me operating it outside it's design parameters. One would think it'd just stop before getting to a point where it hits the ground but that's not always the case. Sometimes stuff happens and as much as I want it to be perfect I know they aren't. 22~32 mpg seems like the sweet spot, sees stuff in time and I've never crashed it. There's a "pace" for the SD2, it's slower then I normally ride so I often catch myself and have to dial it back. When you're within the drone's pace it does very well, IMO that pace isn't 36mph except possibly flying straight down a frozen lake.

Back before it was released they gave me one to test out. The first time I tested with the motorcycle I eventually reached some speeds that were obviously too fast for the drone, 40+, I kinda knew it at the time but figured lets see what happens, testing this thing after all. I crashed it. It didn't hurt the drone and I flew it a bunch more till I had to return it. I could see that video, it started in front of me, then tried to react to a turn by zooming to catch up. I call it zooming because it's at about a 60 degree angle and you can see the props. As it tried to react to my turn it got very low, almost skimming the ground before it hit something and went tumbling. Since then, the times that it's hit the ground were ether caused by hitting a branch going fast or asking it to follow at too high of a speed especially when combined with some turns since that makes it try to keep up even harder. It's worse when it's flying backwards since all it's moves are reactionary and being in front is way harder then following. I've seen it make some extreme maneuvers when working to catch up.

The one time I did have what I consider to be a serious crash was when it just fell out of the sky like someone turned it off, even then it still flew fine and had no signs of damage but they were contacted and replaced it despite being out of warranty. They could have easily said sorry it's on you, they didn't. So in my view they try and do the right thing.

I guess my point is it's not perfect, stuff happens and hopefully it's in a place that doesn't trash the drone if it hits the ground. High speed situations increase the risk of a crash, it doesn't see stuff soon enough and its attempt to catch up at full speed is sometimes more then it can handle.

It's my theory that the drone's top speed isn't limited by it's physical design but by how fast it can process all it's views to determine if it's approaching an obstacle.

 

[Trailryder42]

The one time I did have what I consider to be a serious crash was when it just fell out of the sky like someone turned it off, even then it still flew fine and had no signs of damage but they were contacted and replaced it despite being out of warranty. They could have easily said sorry it's on you, they didn't. So in my view they try and do the right thing.

I would think part of that could just be their business model of being a little more supportive of someone that exposes their product on the scale that you do. I've seen your review of the drone after they sent it to you initially and everything of yours with it since. It was your content that sold me on it and I'm sure has helped make the decision for others as well.

 

[Ridefreak]

I would think part of that could just be their business model of being a little more supportive of someone that exposes their product on the scale that you do. I've seen your review of the drone after they sent it to you initially and everything of yours with it since. It was your content that sold me on it and I'm sure has helped make the decision for others as well.

They've never acknowledged that formally but I know I've sold quite a few to the MC crowd for them. I've seen them replace drones quite a few times on here but they seem to draw the line a tree and wire strikes, no surprise there. Being able to test this drone was pretty cool, I knew right away I was getting one.

 

[VEGASROBBI]

I find myself adjusting speed to the S2. I can control altitude by slowly down or speeding up. In complex areas with bushes and trees I need to slow down. Things gets sketchy above 30 mph, following from behind it does pretty good. If I see it start to rock and go to high angles I slow down.

If I need to do high speed stuff I use my Yuneec Typhoon I have successfully followed up to 50 mph with the Typhoon. The Typhoon has very limited if any obstacle avoidance though so you must be pilot in command.

 

[DroneGuy007]

I was going fast on a snowmachine, probably 40-50mph.

Tracking speed of the S2 is 36 mph(last I checked), props may have been in the shot due to the extreme angle it had to fly at to keep up.

It would get in the shot when I would turn which was very slow. I’m not a fast turner lol

 

[DroneGuy007]

I find myself adjusting speed to the S2. I can control altitude by slowly down or speeding up. In complex areas with bushes and trees I need to slow down. Things gets sketchy above 30 mph, following from behind it does pretty good. If I see it start to rock and go to high angles I slow down.

If I need to do high speed stuff I use my Yuneec Typhoon I have successfully followed up to 50 mph with the Typhoon. The Typhoon has very limited if any obstacle avoidance though so you must be pilot in command.

I was zooming skydio was keeping up I was amazed. It was faster than the advertised 36mph.

 

[DroneGuy007]

Make sure if you have iPhone that you are using the official cable. Its the only one that works. If you are using an android phone, unplugging and plugging back in usually works but if not.... try a different cable.


Footage will be broken up into smaller clips.... usually a few gigs per file. Its a limitation of SD card recordings. They combine easily when editing in post..... if they are tiny clips then its an error.


I have never seen props in my shots from the Skydio so this is alarming.

I did not use the controller. Just tried to hook up the phone with a beacon for a better connection.

I have a lot of tiny clips.

Yea props were in my shots on sharp turns when I did a 180.

 

[DroneGuy007]

I was going fast on a snowmachine, probably 40-50mph.

Tracking speed of the S2 is 36 mph(last I checked), props may have been in the shot due to the extreme angle it had to fly at to keep up.

props were in it when turning 180.

 

[DroneGuy007]

The couple times I crashed mine was going fast, not as fast as DroneGuy but I had the height floor turned off and as it's zooming to catch up it crashed. I considered that my fault, I learned to turn on the height floor when I was asking it to keep up at speed which is all the time for me. I know that's not the same situation and a frozen lake isn't like flying over water at all. I hope they take care of you. If my experience and if from what I've seen on here is any indication I think they'll help you out. Let me add that mine has hit the ground more then a couple times for various reasons, no damage to the drone except props. My first reaction in that situation wasn't to send it back, I knew I was pushing it's limits. The drone flew well for over a year afterwards so I'm convinced those situations were mostly me operating it outside it's design parameters. One would think it'd just stop before getting to a point where it hits the ground but that's not always the case. Sometimes stuff happens and as much as I want it to be perfect I know they aren't. 22~32 mpg seems like the sweet spot, sees stuff in time and I've never crashed it. There's a "pace" for the SD2, it's slower then I normally ride so I often catch myself and have to dial it back. When you're within the drone's pace it does very well, IMO that pace isn't 36mph except possibly flying straight down a frozen lake.

Back before it was released they gave me one to test out. The first time I tested with the motorcycle I eventually reached some speeds that were obviously too fast for the drone, 40+, I kinda knew it at the time but figured lets see what happens, testing this thing after all. I crashed it. It didn't hurt the drone and I flew it a bunch more till I had to return it. I could see that video, it started in front of me, then tried to react to a turn by zooming to catch up. I call it zooming because it's at about a 60 degree angle and you can see the props. As it tried to react to my turn it got very low, almost skimming the ground before it hit something and went tumbling. Since then, the times that it's hit the ground were ether caused by hitting a branch going fast or asking it to follow at too high of a speed especially when combined with some turns since that makes it try to keep up even harder. It's worse when it's flying backwards since all it's moves are reactionary and being in front is way harder then following. I've seen it make some extreme maneuvers when working to catch up.

The one time I did have what I consider to be a serious crash was when it just fell out of the sky like someone turned it off, even then it still flew fine and had no signs of damage but they were contacted and replaced it despite being out of warranty. They could have easily said sorry it's on you, they didn't. So in my view they try and do the right thing.

I guess my point is it's not perfect, stuff happens and hopefully it's in a place that doesn't trash the drone if it hits the ground. High speed situations increase the risk of a crash, it doesn't see stuff soon enough and its attempt to catch up at full speed is sometimes more then it can handle.

It's my theory that the drone's top speed isn't limited by it's physical design but by how fast it can process all it's views to determine if it's approaching an obstacle.

Thanks for the response and feedback! I appreciate it. I had the height ceiling set to 8 feet. The drone kept me in shot the entire time before and after the crash and I never changed riding styles and maintained my high speeds. For whatever reason this one time it decided to crash into the ground. Like it turned off. I only contacted Skydio because I spent $1400+ bucks on the whole kit and extras just a few days prior and on my first flight I had a crash. That is a red flag to me because it was out in the open added on top of propellors in my shots on turns something was weird. Additionally, my clips are not a whole video. Another red flag. I will keep in mind the sweet spot as I agree. I have not heard back from Skydio in about 2 days so currently waiting.... my crash was like yours like someone turned it off and it just fell down. I got lucky it landed in snow, hard snow but better than the ground. I agree with your theory.

 

[Ridefreak]

Thanks for the response and feedback! I appreciate it. I had the height ceiling set to 8 feet. The drone kept me in shot the entire time before and after the crash and I never changed riding styles and maintained my high speeds. For whatever reason this one time it decided to crash into the ground. Like it turned off. I only contacted Skydio because I spent $1400+ bucks on the whole kit and extras just a few days prior and on my first flight I had a crash. That is a red flag to me because it was out in the open added on top of propellors in my shots on turns something was weird. Additionally, my clips are not a whole video. Another red flag. I will keep in mind the sweet spot as I agree. I have not heard back from Skydio in about 2 days so currently waiting.... my crash was like yours like someone turned it off and it just fell down. I got lucky it landed in snow, hard snow but better than the ground. I agree with your theory.

What you described doesn't sound like a speed issue and I would have reached out to them also. That scenario is pretty benign except for the speed and it definitely shouldn't have shut off like you described. It sounds like you had the bases covered, height floor primarily. They're going to ask you to upload your log files, I uploaded mine right after sending them the email, the idea was that hopefully they can go right from reading the email to the analysis, don't know if it sped things up. If nothing else take that stuff above into consideration, good to know info that might be useful in the future.

With no trees and the height floor on I'm confident they'll give it the attention it deserves.

 

[DroneGuy007]

What you described doesn't sound like a speed issue and I would have reached out to them also. That scenario is pretty benign except for the speed and it definitely shouldn't have shut off like you described. It sounds like you had the bases covered, height floor primarily. They're going to ask you to upload your log files, I uploaded mine right after sending them the email, the idea was that hopefully they can go right from reading the email to the analysis, don't know if it sped things up. If nothing else take that stuff above into consideration, good to know info that might be useful in the future.

With no trees and the height floor on I'm confident they'll give it the attention it deserves.

I got my response. Notes below.

“From an initial look into the logs, this appears to have been an emergency landing caused by a combination of degraded GPS but more importantly very degraded VIO(visual inertial odometry). The area you were launching from visually, was very flat and featureless which means that the Skydio 2 is flying blind. When this happens it will use the barometer to try and safely land.

If you are going to launch in an area like that again in the future, it helps to have more visual features so that the Skydio 2 can get its visual bearing, so to speak.

A one-time exception has been made. Upon the return of your crashed Skydio 2 to our warehouse, we will be sending you out a new replacement.”

 

[kgilbertsen]

I got my response. Notes below.

“From an initial look into the logs, this appears to have been an emergency landing caused by a combination of degraded GPS but more importantly very degraded VIO(visual inertial odometry). The area you were launching from visually, was very flat and featureless which means that the Skydio 2 is flying blind. When this happens it will use the barometer to try and safely land.

If you are going to launch in an area like that again in the future, it helps to have more visual features so that the Skydio 2 can get its visual bearing, so to speak.

A one-time exception has been made. Upon the return of your crashed Skydio 2 to our warehouse, we will be sending you out a new replacement.”

Very nice

 

[Ridefreak]

That's great news. Glad they're fixing it.

 

[jamez247]

Hello,

Bare with me this is a good chunk to read. I appreciate the help, tips, advice, experience.

Just had my first flight with my Skydio 2. Anyways, it crashed in an open field with no trees or obstacles in sight. I was not in the mountains but trails, flat trails on a frozen lake with snow. I am pretty bummed. Kept flying after the crash though so props to Skydio.

I was going fast on a snowmachine, probably 40-50mph in a straight line. It was doing fine for the most part then out of the blue just crashed. My wife watched it happen as she was riding behind me. I was flying before that in the same area with no problems.

Reached out to Skydio and was told if it is under warranty I will have to cover the repair cost?! The video I have have did not catch the crash because it did multiple small clips(my settings were on auto record?!). However, it seems the flight logs are full clips but I cannot watch them from what I can see from uploading flight logs from beacon to Skydio Support. I was flying on a frozen lake with snow on top of it so you did not even know it was a frozen lake. The customer support representative tried telling me not to fly over a body of water longer than 30 feet. I told the representative that it was a large body of water but it was frozen and covered in snow so you did not even know it was a lake unless you dug out the snow. Hopefully, that does not gig me?

They will be reviewing the flight logs soon, as I just sent them to support. Another thing I noticed before the flight was I could not get the drone to connect to the phone that was red flag number one. It was my first flight how should I know? Did not matter because I do not need the phone if just flying with a beacon and it did fine for the most part. Red flag number 2 is my footage is all small clips even though my recording is set to auto. I only flew with the beacon. I do not have Skydio Premier Support. Shouldn't Skydio cover this? Seems there are a few glitches. Also, my propellors get in the footage sometimes on sharp turns. For a side note, the beacon was on my wrist out in the open not obstructed or by my phone electronics, etc. I was using motion tracking. I also continued to fly the drone with the same battery after the crash so it was not low on battery. The drone landed in tough snow with the gimbal facing up (thankfully) I do not see any physical damage but I did notice the gimbal seemed a bit jerky after this? I told this to the representative.

Thoughts?!

Hey DroneGuy007, Request the video that you gave them permission to pull from the log. Also, if you connect the S2 up, in the APP at the bottom where it has Media, Fly, Info. Click on info and then click on your drone and you should see "Last flights" this is the recording you see on your scree when you are flying.

 

[jamez247]

Also, this warranty with Skydio. It is a pain. I have wrecked three S2 all due to malfunction and I had to fight and push the issue, sent them alternate video, still photos with measuring tape in the photos to plead my case. each of them took about a month, all of them prior to even speaking to me or emailing me all 3 of them were considered not a malfunction and I would be paying for repairs. I pleaded my case, always kept my best evidence last. Stayed on them , don't let them close the . Always refer to the wreck as it malfunctioned. have them explain in dept why and how come. It was the worst customer service I ever experienced and it was worse than the time before each following time. it took a month to get them to RMA them and 3 weeks each time for them to get it to me. If you have any question will try to answer from my experience;. I would tell you the entire store of the poor customer service, but I got to run. Hope it turns out well

 

[kenmavic2zoom]

i would suggest anyone who intends to seriously fly this drone and wants to protect their investment, please take out an insurance policy like skydio care instead of solely relying on the manufacturer's warranty which primarily covers defects. i realize in an earlier life, the skydio warranty was a big deal...but it appears the market may have changed somewhat.

the skydio 2 is a compete drone but the way it flies sometimes can really really make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. do yourself a favor....in fact, do it twice with a low-cost TWO year skydio care plan. personally, for me it absolutely makes no sense to leave home without it. oh yeah, state farm drone insurance works too....if you can get it.

 

[jamez247]

i would suggest anyone who intends to seriously fly this drone and wants to protect their investment, please take out an insurance policy like skydio care instead of solely relying on the manufacturer's warranty which primarily covers defects. i realize in an earlier life, the skydio warranty was a big deal...but it appears the market may have changed somewhat.

the skydio 2 is a compete drone but the way it flies sometimes can really really make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. do yourself a favor....in fact, do it twice with a low-cost TWO year skydio care plan. personally, for me it absolutely makes no sense to leave home without it. oh yeah, state farm drone insurance works too....if you can get it.

I agree 100% even back when they had the premier memeber $ 800.00 it didnt work not even close as it was stated .
Each time i got a RMA they would add into a email or say it over the phone multiple times " well because your a premier memer were going to do this , this one time only" clowns .