Time for an Aircraft!

[Wmacky]

OK!
I really hate not having what I need to do a job, but perhaps went a little nutty on this project. I have collected and built the following:

GPS navigation system with a 411
Autopilot
Gekko
Tinytrac telemetry system
Headtracker
500mw video system
Custom assembling a Divesity reciever with 2 band Digital LCD tuning.
Complete groundstation case including:
Video amp/splitter
LCD monitor
LCD googles
powersuppy
SD card recorder
laptop with traking software
tripod / patch antennas.

Would you believe I don't currently own a airplane! ;)

Here's the issue. I want to progress to my untimate goal of a 10 mile mission. I do not have the luxury of a desert or lakebeds. Safety is a major concern, and a need to reduce the impact should all go wrong. I'm thinking electric, and foam would be best from a safety standpoint. Still, I have a large payload of gear to lift. The liftmaster is my fist pic, but I have visions of it crashing into the side of a new Hummer! :eek: Can a big foam plane be made to journey 10 miles? Getting cold feet I guess. My plan it to monitor the event from a chase vehicle.

[macboffin]

The best answer if all goes wrong is a safety parachute, standard practise.
You can command deployment, along with "close throttle" and anything else that seems a good idea, and/or operate via a fail-safe. How big of a chute depends on total airborne weight of course, but as a gude line figure on around three feet area per pound weight. The aircraft design you settle on should allow for clean and clear chute deployment ; for example a dorsal hatch and a Vee tail, so the chute exits between the fins. Could save a lot of expense in various ways! Feel free to PM me if you need detailed info. The picture accompanying this shows the safety chute in its pack, sitting on it's hatch lid. (This was a fifty foot diameter 'chute, "big bird!")