I'm looking to build a long range drone for aerial photography and general fun! I'd like it to be able to be able to fly up to 8 mile missions. Obviously I realize I'm not going to be able to get a video feed from that type of distance. Or can I? I was looking at the EPP FPV as a viable option. I plan on adding APM2, APM MinimOSD, voltage meter, airspeed meter, and a suitable long range video Tx. Eventually I would like to add telemetry to be able to fly it from my computer (So awesome!), but at this point I really just want to concentrate on making it fully autonomous. My questions to you vetted pros here are the following. What kind of battery/batteries should I get to power all this and be able to fly 8 mile missions? What would be the best motor for this application? Also the Wiki is unclear about the powering of the OSD and the APM2. What will be the best way to power all of this in terms of electrical arrangement? What is the longest range video Tx and Rx that I can get for such a long range application? Thanks in advance for all the help!
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Most fixed wing RC aircraft in use for FPV today can easily travel at 35+mph with flight times of greater than 30 minutes. Many travel at 45-65 mph. Some get an hour or more of flight time. Traveling 16 miles (round trip) is easily within reach even for common stock trainer/fpv planes. With the right antenna elevation, tracking, good antennas, it is possible to communicate telemetry and video at distances of 5-8 miles. But I again encourage you to become acquainted with your local regulatory and legal requirements... for rc flight and for radio communication restrictions.
Your choice of motor is complex. It depends on the aircraft design, weight, intended airspeed, requirements for flight characteristics, propeller characteristics, required prop RPM, efficiency requirements. Start by learning everything you can about RC flight. Then, figure out what the estimated weight of your aircraft is. For your purposes, I recommend starting with a plane that others tell you meets your general requirements, then reading on regroups.com about what others recommend for prop and motor selection.
As for batteries, it's the same answer for general electric RC planes as it is for FPV and UAV work. The preferred battery at the moment is a lithium polymer (also known as a "lipo") battery. You can google and read more about them. You should learn how to spec, select, and maintain your lipos properly. You need to decide on: voltage/# of cells, capacity/amp hours, and discharge rate. And never forget weight. Everything to do with flight gets weighed.
As for video, there are lots of systems out there, but you will need to select and assemble the parts. Learn about your FCC restrictions... just because you can buy it, doesn't mean its legal to use it. Learn about antennas, power levels, frequencies. Read about getting started in FPV.... everything except the autonomous topic will be covered in those "how to" sites.
Read and learn everything you can. It will save you money, and time. Did I mention that you should learn about your legal requirements? ;)
Make sure you familiarize yourself with your local regulatory and legal requirements.