I am currently planning for several long range test flights this June. My foamboard aircraft is currently equipped with:
-A shrinkwrapped laptop motherboard with harddrive.
Using an AT&T Laptop Broadband Aircard, I will be able to get an internet connection up to the laptop a few hundred feet in the air. Onboard the aircraft are servo controller circuits in which the servos are steered using the variable resistor or potentiometer. Variable electrical pulses that would normally travel to the lcd screen of a computer would in turn be connected to small electric motors controlling the variable pitch of the potentiometers driving the servos. The variable electric pulses going to the electric motors would be manipulated by webcam feed to the plane using flashing lights in certain parts of the screen. These certain parts of the lcd controller would receive voltage differences turning the electric motors on and off in the certain places they would be connected.
Make sense?
I will be posting more later.

so this will be fully self guided, on a pre planned route ? How are you getting around the FAA regs for this.. I have been working on a project with 18 mile range on plane rf and 7 mile range on the video link..

s.