This diagram shows Ruby's autonomous landing pattern using default settings.

Ruby will fly out to a point 600 feet away from the landing target. If necessary, Ruby will loiter about that point in a circle or pacing pattern and descend or climb until plane reaches 75 feet AGL. It will then begin a straight final approach to land, applying throttle and crabbing into the wind as necessary to stay on a straight glidepath. At 400 feett away from landing target, Ruby will be at about 50 feet altitude, and at 200 feet away it will be at 25 feet altitude.

The long final approach is intended to accommodate the shallow glideslopes of gliders with no headwind. Shorter final approaches are possible with other types of planes having steeper glidepaths. Contact support@uthere.com to adapt settings to the particulars of your airfield or plane.

Circling and landing direction are determined by the orientation of the plane when you "set home". By default, Ruby will loiter and land in a counterclockwise "left hand pattern", staying on the left side of the landing vector.

To get Ruby to circle in a specified direction / on a specified side of the landing area:

It's sometimes necessary to have Ruby stay on a particular side of the landing vector to avoid obstacles or prohibited zones.

While you flip the switch to "set home", have the plane pointing to the side of the final approach on in which you'd like it to loiter while descending. For instance, have it pointing away from the pit area. As soon as Ruby wags controls to indicate that it is beginning preflight, immediately rotate the plane to point in the desired landing direction. Ruby will land in whatever direction the plane is pointing at the time it completes the preflight. Note that landing pattern direction can be set in this way only when you "set home", not when you simply "preflight".

[More info about autonomous landing]