This paper presents a data-set of performance characteristics of nearly two hundred vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) uncrewed aerial systems (UAS). Characteristics of the UAS that are recorded include maximum gross takeoff weight, endurance, maximum length dimension, speed, payload, and payload fraction. The data-set is restricted to small UAS that weigh under 500 lbs. The results are visualized via scatter plots and statistically characterized. The performance of different UAS design types and UAS Group Numbers are compared. The data-set provides a snapshot of current capabilities of small UAS in the V/STOL category and may be useful to UAS developers and procurement agencies.

This paper presents a software pipeline that enables simulating a quadrotor’s flight in realistic urban wind fields where complex wind phenomena are common and have significant impact on vehicle dynamics. The pipeline integrates the OpenStreetMap database for obtaining real-world building geometry, the OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver for computing a three-dimensional, steady, wind field, the Gazebo robotics simulation environment, and the PX4 software-in-the-loop autopilot. A 3D wind plugin is developed to interpolate a pre-computed CFD wind field at runtime during the simulation. The approach is demonstrated by comparing the flight performance of a quadrotor flying over a university campus environment with and without the wind field.