The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been developed and applied for use in agriculture and forestry applications. Compared with piloted aircraft, an UAV can operate more effectively on small crop fields at lower altitudes than regular aircrafts to perform specific tasks with higher precision. However, the high cost of systems is one of the main factors limiting their practical implementations. The purpose of this study is to design a low-cost UAV for farming management and forest surveillance. A radio-controlled glider having wingspan of 1.4 meters, namely Sky Surfer, has been employed in this work. As the very first results, the aircraft can autonomously operate on a pre-programed flight plan after taking off and reaching certain altitudes. The designed aircraft, equipped with a 5-Mpixel camera, can fly at a height of 30 to 40 meters at an average speed of 60 Km/h. In addition, the aircraft?s GPS coordinates can be continuously updated and transmitted to a ground station. The results of this study are expected to be suitable for applications such as monitoring crop health status and surveillance for small forest plantations.