Evening all,

I've been approached recently by some land owners in the area regarding a way to keep an eye on their property. A lot of it is in crops but much of it is wooded and not being used in a structured way. Their interests seem to be partly a way to keep an eye on crops but also a way to keep an eye on areas that see fewer people. While I don't know specifically what they are trying to determine in the planted areas (I'm not a farmer) I suspect their greater interest is to see that no one is trespassing and perhaps setting up agricultural operations surreptitiously ie. no one is growing pot in some of the more remote areas which has become a problem for some landowners in the area. Anyway, they are looking for a way to easily watch the area on a regular basis without physically visiting it all.
They've heard all the media buzz on drones and figure there is something to this. My solution is to use a fixed wing gas powered airplane with an autopilot that can be programmed to fly a specific mission and use either FPV or something like a Go Pro that can be downloaded and analyzed later. My personal requirements include gas power, 90+ minutes range in fuel and batteries and a total weight of about 18 pounds. The airframes I like for this are either the Aeroworks GT Trainer or a Robinhood. The GT has the advantage of being a good quality ARF that looks like it should be able to carry enough fuel and batteries to fly for 90 minutes and operate the onboard electronics as well as carry a good quality video camera. The Robinhood will have to be built from plans, is heavier and slower but will lift a lot of weight and has a cavernous fuselage. Another alternative would be a Kadet Senior for shorter missions. I've flown all three of these airplanes many times so am familiar with their characteristics. There is plenty of room for takeoff and landing so for that reason as well as simplicity and reliability I'm less interested in heli's or multicopters.
My question then is what autopilots would be available at reasonable cost that can be programmed to fly a set course and return to a starting point? It needs to be reliable and straightforward to program and operate. None of these flights will be over any populated areas so I'm not concerned with damaging anything should the plane go down but I want something I can count on to be proven and not full of bugs. It doesn't have to be the very latest, it just needs to be able to fly the mission described once or twice a month. I would guess this plane will see about 10 hours of use per month probably 10 months out of the year. I can research the various systems out there but wonder what is working the best for people right now? Any insights will be appreciated. Thanks.

Rick H.