The aerodynamic simulation and path optimization of a new unmanned aerial vehicle （UAV） recovery method using an aerial platform for direct docking are carried out. In the docking and recovery process of this method， the UAV needs to gradually approach the aerial platform from a distance. In the process of approaching the platform， the UAV will be affected by the tail vortex of the platform’s wing tip. How to ensure the correct path of the approaching is the key to a successful recovery. This paper starts from aerodynamic characteristics. First， computational fluid dynamics （CFD） simulation is used to study and analyze the variation rule of aerodynamic performance when the UAV is docking and retrieving with the air platform along different paths. Second， the proxy model is used to fit and predict the generated aerodynamic interference， and the spatial distribution of the UAV aerodynamic interference around the air platform is obtained. Third， an anti-interference sliding mode controller is designed with MATLAB to deal with the aerodynamic interference under different docking paths， and the docking paths under the corresponding paths are compared and verified by simulation.