Hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle systems with quick release tether assembly

An unmanned aerial vehicle system, comprising:

• a ground station;
• a tether assembly coupled to the ground station;
• and
• an unmanned aerial vehicle having a quick release mechanism selectively coupled to the tether assembly to restrain movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the quick release mechanism being electrically actuatable to decouple the tether assembly from the unmanned aerial vehicle for enabling the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly freely, wherein the quick release mechanism includes a housing that supports a slider member and a motor assembly, the motor assembly being actuatable to move the slider member relative to the housing between a first position and a second position.

An unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising:

• a housing;
• a slider plate supported by the housing;
• a motor assembly coupled to the slider plate and actuatable to move the slider plate relative to the housing to selectively decouple a tether assembly from the housing to enable the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly freely;
• and
• a slider housing coupled to the slider plate, the slider housing coupled to the housing by a spring.