Absolutely, I see where you're coming from. Thanks for the quick reply.
For manual mode, you can get a USB transmitter that feels just like an RC transmitter:
http://www.hobbypartz.com/60p-dyu-1002.htmlMaybe they make wireless verisons of this so you aren't tethered to the ground station, too.
For Stabilized mode I'm coming from the side of an unstable aircraft, like a quadcopter, which requires stabilization to fly. So really manual mode is stabilized mode.
And for the sake of simplicity and weight, one radio would be best. Small VTOL vehicles are very susceptible to weight gain, and even the small receiver counts for something. And you really only need one radio.
In terms of implementing this on GluonPilot, I was thinking I'd try to set up the "communication_input_task" function so it operated on interrupts similar to the GPS.
Then, in that function, test if the first character sent is "$" or something and if it is, treat this data as control input, not configuration stuff.
You'd probably want some stuff to select b/t PPM or this new serial control input, too.
So that's what's on my mind. What do you think?