This is the start of the project, and thus the start of the research phase. The first step here is to do a high level summary of this project. 

What are the needs of this project?

• Flight Capable UAV
• Autonomous
• Telemetry link throughout flight

What are the wants of this project?

• Long flight time (30-45 minutes)
• Able to be broken down for easier transport
• Full FPV/camera integration

This gives a good idea of what has to happen. The next big step is deciding the UAV design. A good place to start is where I am familiar. While thinking of this, there are three main ideas that come to mind. 

The first idea here is a "Talon" style UAV. This is a widely popular design in the world of small UAVs. It features a motor mounted on the tail, high wings, and a V-tail. 

Pros: 

• Already well known for being a good UAV design
• Fairly compact
• no long carbon rod based tails

Cons: 

• Not as familiar with tail mounted engines
• Seems difficult to balance

The second idea is a "twin-boom" style plane. These are popular with slightly larger UAVs, and are characterized by two "booms" going out to the tail. 

Pros: 

• Easier to balance, can be done by adjusting tail length. 
• Either dual rudder or inverted V-tail
• Easy to scale

Cons: 

• Large carbon booms can be expensive
• Almost necessary to have landing gear
• harder to teardown

The final is a "high-wing" style plane. This is possibly the closest to a traditional aircraft. Features a motor facing backwards on a raised mount and a long boom tail. Can be either a T tail, V tail, or a standard tail. 

Pros: 

• Easy to balance
• Fairly simple

Cons: 

• Long carbon boom tail
• Tail can be hard to support well

These are the options so far. I am partial to the Talon style right now, just for its lack of large carbon supports and its compactness. I plan to make a final airframe decision this week, and get the design started. I will update this log once I have an initial model either in Fusion 360 or SimplePlanes (which by the way I recommend for some rapid prototyping for aircraft).