LINCOLN, UK: November 23, 2018. UAV and drone training academy Rusta, offering Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approved courses, says there’s been a “dramatic” upsurge in women registrants in the last 12 months.

The news coincides with the publication by the International Organization for Standards proposals for drone operations. Interested parties are invited to submit comments prior to January 21, 2019.

“As one of the longest running NQE [National Qualified Entity] academies in the UK, the last three and a half years have given us a wealth of data that we’ve used to examine the demographic of operators,” said Sion Roberts (pictured), Rusta managing director. “What we discovered, is that male operators have vastly outnumbered their female counterparts. However, this domination may be coming to an end.

“Over the last twelve months more women have been attending our five-star courses, but even more encouragingly, they have been outperforming their male peers.”

Established in 2014, Rusta was one of the original drone and UAV academies in the UK, training operators to be able to use their drones for commercial purposes.

All instructors have a Royal Air Force or Army Air Corps background with thousands of hours flying experience on both manned and unmanned platforms.

Sion continued: “It’s great to see a rise in women taking part in our courses and excelling in their UAV-related careers. Alexandra Kilcoyne, for example, is an Earth Observation Specialist for Natural England and uses the skills gained from our courses to aid her in trialing bird counts, measuring vegetation heights and thermal surveying.

“The training we offer is inclusive and available to anyone who wants to enhance their skills, whether that be for commercial use or just as a hobby.”

Commenting on the ISO release Robert Garbett, founder of Drone Major Group and chairman of the BSI [British Standards] Committee on Drone Standards said: “These standards will undoubtedly lead to a new confidence in safety, security and compliance within this dynamic industry, resulting in a massive expansion in the availability and use of drone technology in the years to come.

"I strongly encourage anyone with an interest in this critically important industry, to respond to the consultation by the January deadline,” he added.