ABSTRACT
Many developments in manned aircraft have taken place; however, it has really only been in the last two decades that technological developments in sensors and microprocessors have enabled small unmanned aircraft to become a reality. With an open skies policy towards unmanned aircraft in the US in 2015 and the UK in 2016, this is a pressing issue which has both an economic and societal impact. The widespread availability and use of low-cost small multi-rotor UA, has enabled researchers and citizen scientists to explore the three dimensional world in ways that only a few decades ago would have seemed impossible. In developing the next generation of unmanned systems, such as the tethered small multi-rotor capable of persistent surveillance, developers will need to convince governmental agencies, like the Civil Aviation Authority.
