The Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) has announced that they’ll become a major sponsor of the Central Colorado UAS (CCUAS) group, a non-profit organization promoting Unmanned Aerial Systems (commonly called drones) across the state.
Josh Olds, president and CEO of USI, said that sponsorship of CCUAS would be a great fit.
“The Unmanned Safety Institute is proud to sponsor Central Colorado UAS (CCUAS) as they are providing valuable training and educational opportunities related to proper UAS operations within their service area,” said Olds. “Like USI, CCUAS safety practices and procedures are founded in tried-and-true aviation principles, and they are doing great work in building the required knowledge and hands-on flight proficiency that is being required by companies looking to hire professional UAS pilots.”
CCUAS, which began as a drone club, has funded drone education programs in the Buena Vista and Salida high schools, hosted annual conferences featuring national speakers, and created what is considered one of the nation’s first sanctioned drone-flying parks, located off U.S. Highway 24 in Buena Vista. Their membership has expanded in the past year, welcoming drone pilots who work in media, journalism, search-and-rescue operations, education, and more according to CCUAS’s president Taylor Albrecht.
CCUAS members are also looking forward to the sponsorship, which developed the curriculum used in the drone program at Buena Vista High School.
“The CCUAS’ primary mission is community outreach and education,” noted Albrecht. “Small-unmanned aerial systems, commonly called ‘drones’, are in an explosive growth stage. Not only are they being used to take fantastic photographs and videos from vantage points previously unavailable, but also have been instrumental in helping recent disaster recovery efforts from Hurricanes Florence and Michael. In Chaffee County, using drones to help in search and rescue and wildland firefighting efforts is increasing and a targeted area for research. The group is focused on helping pilots with the safe and legal use of drones in these and other applications.”
The initial Unmanned Aerial System education program in Chaffee County schools (beginning with Salida High School), as well as the UAS effort which began as a county support program, was organized by Chaffee County resident Dr. Alison Brown and the UAS program in Salida High School was initially funded by her. Brown, who is the CEO of Navsys Corporation, is extensively involved in U.S. government contracts and aerial systems
For more information, contact CCUAS at ccuasclub@gmail.com, or visit their website at https://centralcoloradouas.org.
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