"Also it must be taken into account that the FAA listens to whoever is the loudest/richest/most powerful (e.g. Obama's user fee proposal). For UAV systems to gain better acceptance it needs to be a much larger industry."

"Skip the C++ and learn C, or better yet learn Python. C++ is a great language if you already have a foundation in another language (especially an OOP one like Python), but I would never recommend to someone who has never programmed before."

"I am a private pilot and I think the easiest way to achieve this would be similar to a real instrument approach. You could set up a rudimentary ILS system using IR beacons and use sensors (ultrasonic maybe? not sure how well that would work landing…"