Drones have been in the news recently as the Federal Aviation Administration released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking addressing the commercial use of drones.

Following are some facts and statistics about drones from www.forbes.com:

• There could be 30,000 drones overhead in the U.S. by 2020.
• The surveillance ability of Reaper drones soon will be expanded to a 10-kilometer (km) by 10-km area—or two-thirds the size of Washington, D.C.
• Various names have been used for drones, including unmanned aerial vehicles, spy planes and remote piloted aircraft.
• In Britain, manufacturers have suggested painting drones bright colors to make them seem friendlier and less reminiscent of war zones.
• The Air Force has 65,000 to 70,000 people working to process all the data and footage it currently is collecting from drones.
• Cape Canaveral, which previously was used to launch space shuttles, now serves as a drone base and drone practice spot.
• The Coast Guard believes using drones to increase its surveillance of U.S. waters will increase its prosecutions by 95 percent.
• Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom allow more commercial drone use than the U.S.

This Web exclusive information is a supplement to As I was saying ….