pimmnz,

Thanks for your info. Judging the orientation of my UAV will be no problem since I will have an on-board camera system shooting live video footage back down the ground zero (an FPV system). Also, I am more interested in finding out the optimal AoA for altitude based performance- not speed. I'm not sure if there is a difference, but I do understand that decreasing the AoA and keeping the CG constant will result in less lift and potentially more flying speed. I just would like to know what kind of AoA soaring/gliding competitiors are using on their airplanes to get me in the ball-park

Brandon