Aircraft tow system

A cargo transport system comprising:

• an engine powered tractor aircraft;
• at least one unmanned autonomous towed aircraft, which is connected to the tractor aircraft for inflight towing by the tractor aircraft, wherein the towed aircraft includes a body with wings positioned on opposing sides of the body;
• at least one towing element comprising a cable coupled between the towed aircraft and the tractor aircraft;
• and
• an autopilot system in the towed aircraft, wherein the autopilot system is configured to autonomously control taxing, takeoff, flight, and landing of the towed aircraft, wherein the autopilot system includes:
• one or more optical sensors positioned to detect a position and an orientation of the tractor aircraft;
• a computer processor coupled to the optical sensors;
• and
• a memory coupled to the computer processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the computer processor to:
• implement at least one computer vision algorithm to track a position and an orientation of the towed aircraft relative to the tractor aircraft based on the position and the orientation of the tractor aircraft detected by the optical sensors;
• and
• maintain, based at least in part on the position and orientation tracked by the at least one computer vision algorithm, a position of the towed aircraft with respect to the tractor aircraft at a specified position for positive energy wake gain above a turbulence vortex produced by the tractor aircraft during flight, wherein the position of the towed aircraft with respect to the tractor aircraft is controlled, at least in part, by adjustment of a length of the cable coupled between the towed aircraft and the tractor aircraft.