I lost my new Air 2S on 15JUL due to signal lost in route to return to home.

[MAvic_South_Oz]

That is the best explanation I've heard on the issue. Does that apply to damage from a crash, or just loss through fly-away or theft?

State Farm type policy would apply to any sort of total loss I imagine.
I know from reading peoples posts here it covers for non recovery of the drone.
Pretty good that pilots could even get that sort of cover, they are putting a lot of trust in people, most of whom would not think of doing something fraudulent, but that leaves that quite open to anyone who was not as honest as most.

Not sure if any insurance whether State Farm or Care Refresh would be worth using if it was a crash that just resulted in minor damage, or even if such a policy was designed for repairs.
Might be worth self repair then, or at a repair centre (DJI or other) and save your policy for a total loss or major incident.

As with any sort of insurance, fine details will always be in the product disclosure form issued with the policy, worth reading through these.

DJI Care Refresh is different of course, usually with a recovery of the aircraft and a special 'excess' payable for the 1st and 2nd claims and for optional 2nd year.
They now have that flyaway cover too, but haven't read about that myself or how it works.

 

[bkushner]

Interesting. My State Farm Agent told me the opposite. I had a minor crash with my Mini 2 and inquired about a claim and agent said I could file the claim but would be canceled immediately after. Perhaps she meant after the policy term expired and didn't say that specifically? It has been my understanding from others that one claim is all you get with State Farm. I'm glad that you've put in a claim and are still covered. That's good.

My point still stands, that for the cost it is worth covering for all the things that aren't covered elsewhere. And besides, no deductible. In the case of the Mini 2 if you have a fly away your deductible (in addition to the premium you've paid) would be $233. If you have the C/R coverage multiple years without a claim DJI is way ahead of the game even if they have to replace your drone. They get to sell it to you twice- for a profit. They are crafty marketers.

State farm cancels you the second you make a claim.

 

[Macabre]

I own 2 Autel EVO2 Aircraft. One with a 6k 1inch camera and one with an 8k camera. I sold my mavic 2 pro and mavic 2 zoom and bought the EVO2 V1s because of the GEO fencing issue, lower altitude limit, 4k limit, no digital zoom and less battery life. With DJI, no internet equals no flying in restricted airspace because the DJI app needs to clear you first. And it's just plane annoying. The altitude restriction for DJI is1600ft versus the 2600ft autel allows. Mountainous regions require I higher altitude limit when starting from the bottom of the mountain and you want to fly up the side to the top. I also traded up my Mav Air 2 to the Air2S because I wanted the 1inch sensor for improved low light filming and the continued convenience of a smaller lighter drone for travel. The Autels take much better video than the MavPro2 and Zoom. They don't fly as stable, but they have flight modes that are very stable and the gimbals compensate making the video stability equal too that of a DJI.. The EVO2s flight time is at least 10 minutes longer than the air2s and the Mav2 drones.

Unless the Mavic 3 isn't significantly superior to the EVO2s I'm not going to buy one. The battery life would need to be a little longer, speed the same or greater, and they would have to shoot in 8k with a 1 inch or larger cmos sensor. Even if the Mav 3s have these things I will still hesitate to buy due to the altitude limit and the forced geofencing. I would wait for Autel's next thing. Even though that won't happen for years. But I heard from an executive announcement Autel wants to get into the Sub 250gram market and the gap between their EVO2s and the Dragon Fish, like DJI Inspire and Matrice.

Regarding the V1 and V2 chip issue, the chips are the same in power and capability, just made by a different manufacturer. Autel couldn't get enough V1 chips from the 1st manufacture so they went with a new manufacturer. The Smart Controllers Coming out will be Made with V1 chips and V2 chips. The buyer just has to match the drone chip to the controller chip. Since I have 2 V1s I might consider getting a V1 smart controller, but I want to see what the ever illusive Mavic 3 will offer before I make any major drone or accessory purchases.

The other issue with having a v1 chip and a v2 chip: Autel wants their Smart Controller to be compatible with future products. I have a suspicion only the V2 chips are going to be compatible with future products. That's another reason I may not buy a V1 smart controller, unless I hear otherwise.

Yeah, meanwhile Evo 2 is 2kgs which is 4-5 times the weight of Air 2.
It's also much larger. I hate DJI geofencing, but I'm not hauling that monster around.

 

[cgmaxed]

Yeah, meanwhile Evo 2 is 2kgs which is 4-5 times the weight of Air 2.
It's also much larger. I hate DJI geofencing, but I'm not hauling that monster around.

Like I said, I traded up to an air2s for that reason. It's funny, I actually call my Evo2s my monster drones.

 

[CBR500]

Did you checked this in the map using find my drone or in the profile.
It once save my drone .

Guy

 

[wardtom084]

AirData will also record the last lat/lon of your drone.

 

[DKnight]

Did you checked this in the map using find my drone or in the profile.
It once save my drone .

Guy

Hi Guy,
Thanks for replying...yes, I use the map to pin point the last general location (tree top in base of moutain). We searched for 4 days with negatived results. I couldn't use find my drone due to dead drone battery...if I had a live battery on the drone, My chances of locating my drone would have significantly improved. My next dji drone will have a tracker that will out last the drone battery.

 

[Drone Tracker]

Yes you can get the drone alone and I have to dispute your claim of only getting one claim with State Farm I have made one claim and it’s business as usual for me anyway

I second the comment of "Jet Skier". I pay State Farm $75 per year, no deductible, insure $6K (4 drones) and have made 1 successful claim for a loss without ability to retrieve, and it is business as usual should I lose another drone. It is hard to beat that coverage - something everyone should consider.

 

[Drone Tracker]

Hi Guy,
Thanks for replying...yes, I use the map to pin point the last general location (tree top in base of moutain). We searched for 4 days with negatived results. I couldn't use find my drone due to dead drone battery...if I had a live battery on the drone, My chances of locating my drone would have significantly improved. My next dji drone will have a tracker that will out last the drone battery.

If you invest in Marco Polo your searching days will be over. Buy the PGYTech clip for the top of your Mavic 2 (likely for other models as well), velcro the transmitter to the clip. insert your fresh battery, clip it on, turn on the transmitter, and go flying. If you crash on land, your App will give you the approximate location and Marco Polo will do the rest. No more stories of searching for two days. The solutions to complete the DJI tracking are out there as below:

 

[DKnight]

I second the comment of "Jet Skier". I pay State Farm $75 per year, no deductible, insure $6K (4 drones) and have made 1 successful claim for a loss without ability to retrieve, and it is business as usual should I lose another drone. It is hard to beat that coverage - something everyone should consider.

I live in Panama ??(Central America)...not sure if State Farm would cover me outside the States. I sent DJI my flight records in hopes of getting a positive response. After they received my uploaded flight records three days ago, they follow up yesterday, requesting date and time of my accident...hmmm...

 

[Drone Tracker]

If you invest in Marco Polo your searching days will be over. Buy the PGYTech clip for the top of your Mavic 2 (likely for other models as well), velcro the transmitter to the clip. insert your fresh battery, clip it on, turn on the transmitter, and go flying. If you crash on land, your App will give you the approximate location and Marco Polo will do the rest. No more stories of searching for two days. The solutions to complete the DJI tracking are out there as below:

 

[Drone Tracker]

Here's the pics in smaller format

 

[Tom-Air]

@DKnight
Did you have Care/refresh coverage?
They offer reasonable fly away coverage for the Air2s. State Farm, if you're in the US is even better cheaper, but you only get one strike for a claim then you're canceled. But the State Farm coverage includes loss, damage, theft for the controller and accessories as well as the bird itself. I carry both DJI and State Farm. The SF insurance total for my M2P and Mini2 is all of $60 for the year. No deductible, but again, one claim and you're out. Without care/refresh I don't even know if you can replace the drone ala cart without a controller. Does anyone know if that is even possible?

I was unable to renew my Care/Refresh with DJI for my Mavic Air. Too old I guess

 

[DKnight]

I was unable to renew my Care/Refresh with DJI for my Mavic Air. Too old I guess

No...the dealer here in Panama doesn't offer it. And I only found out about Care/Refresh after posting on Mavic Pilots.

 

[Bobbogee]

I was unable to renew my Care/Refresh with DJI for my Mavic Air. Too old I guess

You, or the drone? :~}

 

[RandallSchmidt]

I set my RTH to 400ft on all my drones, not to just avoid objects, but to get the signal back when it reaches this altitude. The higher a drone goes, to a point, the better signal you get. So for me, instead of returning home, my drone just goes up, I get the signal back, cancel RTH, then continue my mission, if the signal is still strong enough. At that altitude it will also make it harder for anybody to shoot it down. But that's something I don't need to worry about.

That's a very good idea. 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz are very much "line-of-sight" frequencies. The higher your drone gets, the more likely you are to have line-of-sight. You'd be surprised how far these signals can travel when there's nothing between you and the aircraft.

 

[DKnight]

Hi everyone...an update on my situation...after numerous conversation via e-mail with DJI (Miss Dora), DJI just shipped me a new Air 2s without r/c and battery charger for $500...44% off despite the lost drone being pilot error and no DJI care refresh.

 

[Macabre]

Hi everyone...an update on my situation...after numerous conversation via e-mail with DJI (Miss Dora), DJI just shipped me a new Air 2s without r/c and battery charger for $500...44% off despite the lost drone being pilot error and no DJI care refresh.

Wow, talk about making their customers happy!