I don't know if the aerial drones tech node should exist.

[lBoBl]

I think the parts in the Aerial Drones tech node have nothing to do in tier 2. One solution would be to swap them with some of the plane parts in tier 1, but I think just removing that node and moving its parts to tier 1 would be more relevant. The small engines are very good for small planes, and having only the larger intake and wheesley at the start means that you have to either use an inline cockpit with an intake on the front or put 2 wheesleys on the sides of your plane which will look enormous and be overpowered. The tiny LY-05 landing gear is great if you want to build WW2 style planes with a wheel on the back, and it's a design that is really easy to build and fly for beginners. Planes are hard enough as it is, so I think giving beginners more options is a good idea.

The other reason is that these tiny parts have no usefulness later in the game. Once you've unlocked Mk2 parts you're not going to want to build a tiny WW2 plane with a wheel on the back, and the fact is, I have unlocked most of tier 3 at this point but this is the last node in tier 2 I still haven't unlocked because I couldn't care less now, with all the better parts I have unlocked. I would have loved to have these parts for my first plane though.

I know that having only the LY-05 at the start has generated a lot of frustration for players in KSP 1 but I think having it as an option would be valuable to beginners and experienced players alike, and the same is true for the XS sized Juno engine. This is just my humble opinion and I might be completely wrong, and I also think the tech tree overall is quite well designed. 

 

Also please remove the Landing Can requirement on the Kerbwide Tour contracts so that we can build good looking planes.