Blogs

An amateur UAV maker in Los Angeles built a UAV designed to fly 21 miles, from Long Beach to Catalina Island and back. It was notable especially for having the motor moved to a pylon above the wing and a pan-tilt gimbal camera put in the nose instead (see picture). This thread about it on RC Groups is a great introduction to high-end UAV making, diminished only by being a few years old (and I don't know if they ever had the courage to attempt the flight. Given the costs--nearly $4,000--it would have been an expensive loss at sea if anything went wrong)

Anyway, in this post he provides a spreadsheet of all his costs. It's very instructive, and most of those costs have not changed in the past three years. Small sample below; full version here.