Hello Everyone,

I am in the planning and research phase of an ambitious project:

Launch a high altitude balloon as high as possible (~25-30km), take pictures, and retrieve the pictures using a long range UAV programmed to fly home.

So some questions:

1. Does the APM (1 or 2) have the standard GPS height limit of 60,000 feet programmed in?
2. If so, do you think a compass heading could be used until GPS signal is restored?
3. Is it easy to know when the GPS is disabled or does it spit out garbled numbers which could really confuse a UAV?
4. Most (all?) AP UAVs I've seen have been electric. is there a problem running APM on a nitro plane? (we're considering nitro instead of electric because of the requirement for long range, and the higher power density of liquid fuel over batteries)
5. what are your general thoughts on the project? anything you think we should look out for in particular?

Thanks!

-Leav