### May 26 , 2015

U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations We st Building Ground Floor, Room W1 2

- 140 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Wa shington, DC 20590

Dear Sir or Madam:

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the Reform Act), I, Jeremiah Jewell, owner of J3 Photography, hereby apply for an exemption from Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) detailed below to allow for commercial operations of a DJI Phantom 3 Professional four rotor UAS with an attached DJI Gimbal Mo unt holding a 4K UHD Camera for the purpose of aerial photography and video for a variety of industries.

As the Reform Act allows the FAA to “establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft systems in the national airspace system”, I, Jerem iah Jewell’s use of the Phantom 3 Professional will provide the following benefits and enhance or provide an equivalent level of safety. 1. The Phantom 3 has a maximum takeoff weight of less than 3 pounds and thus offers a lightweight, small and compact vi deo platform compared to manned aircraft. 2 . The Phantom 3 offers significant safety, noise, emission, security and environmental benefits not available to larger manned aircraft. 3 . The Phantom 3 has numerous safety features such as Failsafe mode, automat ic Return home feature should signal between PIC and UAS be interrupted, GPS based altitude and distance locks, Flight Limits function and low battery warnings. W e feel that these features addressed in more d etail below and in the Phantom 3 User Manual provide an equivalent level of safety. 4 . Op erations utilizing the Phantom 3 Professional will provide a benefit to the general public and serve the public interest by providing the service of aerial photographic images and video to numerous businesses and individuals for considerably less than the previously only available option of utilizing manned aircraft at an equivalent level of safety.

**The A ircraft, Operations and an Equivalent Level of Safety**  1. The safe operation of the UAS will be the first priori ty before, during and after every operation. 2. The UAS pilot will have the required sports Pilot certificate and will be considered the PIC wether flying or supervising and will be responsible for the safe operation of the UAS at all times. 3. The DJI Pha ntom 3 has a maximum takeoff weight of 1300 grams or approximately 2.9 pounds. It has a diagonal length of 590mm and a maximum speed of 16 meters per second. 4. The UAS utilizes GPS/GLONASS location and is controlled by a 2.4 GHz transmitter. 5. All UAS operations will be conducted at Visual Line Of Sight (VLOS) at no more

### than 400 feet AGL.

6. No UAS operations will be conducted within 5 NM of an airport. 7. No UAS operations shall occur over densely populated areas, large assemblies of people, stadiums, government buildings, power lines, or major roads. 8. All nonparticipating persons shall be a minimum of 500 feet from the UAS. 9. If a nonparticipating person comes within 500 feet of the UAS, flight operations will cease immediately. 10. All UAS operati ons shall take place during daylight hours under conditions equivalent to Visual Flight Rules (VFR) with the UAS no more than 3/4 NM from the PIC. 11. All UAS operations will have a PIC and a Visual Observer (VO) present and all operations will be within l ine of sight (LOS) of the PIC and VO. 12. The UAS will yield to all manned aircraft at all times. 13. All required permits and permissions will be obtained from local and state government should they be required. 14. A pre

-flight inspection by the PIC will be performed prior to each flight to assure that the UAS is safe for flight. A post

-flight inspection will also be performed as an added level of safety. 15. At no time shall the UAS be operated with missing or manufacturer unapproved parts, or in any co ndition that could pose a hazard to any other aircraft or structure or person on the ground. 16. Prior to all UAS operations a pre

-flight meeting will be held by the PIC to determine the parameters of flight in a given location, any hazards present, weathe r conditions, safety procedures at the specific location and approximate duration and route of flight. 17. The PIC will have accumulated and accurately logged a minimum of 25 hours total time as a UAS rotorcraft pilot with a minimum of 10 hours as a UAS pilot with a multi

- rotor UAS and 5 hours as a UAS pilot operating the same make and model of UAS to be used for operations under the exemption. 18. The Phantom 3 UAS will utilize GPS/GLONASS lo cation, auto return home and will never be operated at below 20% batter capacity.

The DJI Phantom 3 UAS is a small and safe sub 3 pound plastic and composite aircraft utilizing four propellers driven by a 4480 mAh LiPo 4s 15.2v smart battery with a MAX fl ieght time of 23 minutes. The remote control/transmitter operates at 2.4 GHz. The aircraft’s software has been set to FAA regulations of 400’ ceiling and recognizes zones around airpo rts and forbids flight within 1.5 miles of the center of a type A airport , and outside the 1.5 miles up to 5 miles the altitude increase from 35’ to 400’ in a conical fashion . For example : at 1.5 miles out you r limit is 35’ and at 3.25 Miles from the center the max altitude AGL is 217.5’. I think this feature is great and allows those who wish to take photos with their drone a t say 10’ AGL 2 miles from an Airport, they are more than safe in doing so. The incorporated FLY SAFE technology also restricts flights in areas deemed not permitted by the FAA, for example W ashington D.C. The aircraft will automatically return to point of origin or descend in place should signal with the transmitter be lost. The UAS is unmanned, operates at low altitudes, does not

### run on combustible fuel, has very low decibel level noise emissions and has a small

payload capacity and short flight time, thus significantly reducing current risk levels involved with utilizing manned aircraft for aerial photography. Additionally, past purchasers of aerial photography have had to contract with manned aircraft operations at a significant expense. J3 Photography’s UAS operations will provide a public benefit in allowing more people to access aerial ph otography images and video at a significantly lower price and in the process we will be providi ng that data at a greater or at least equivalent level of safety as compared to similar manned operations. It is the applicants belief that the small size of the Phantom 3 UAS, the basic operating parameters outlined above, the specific exemptions discussed below, the fully trained, certified and vetted crew and the equivalent level of safety provided at a much lower cost to the general public will allow the FAA to grant an exemption to J3 Photography (Jeremiah Jewell) for commercial UAS a erial photography operations under the Reform Act of 2012.

The exemption requests follow below. The DJI Phantom 3 User’s Manual s links are as follows:

Quick Start Guide: http://download.dji

innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_Quick_Start_Guid e_en.pdf

User Manual: http://download.dji

innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_User_Manual_v1. 0_en.pdf

Sincerely, Jeremiah Jewell J3 Photography 3475 Harper Dr Nashport, OH 43830

740

- 704

- 5904 jjnjjewell@prodigy.net**EXEMPTION REQUESTS AND EQUIVA** **LENT LEVEL OF**  **SA FETY** 

J3 Photography, requests an exem ption from the following regulations as well as anyadditional regulations that may technically apply to the operation of the Phantom 3 UAS.

**14 CFR**  **Part21, Subpart H:**  

### Ai **rw orthiness**  **Certificates**

This part establishes the procedures for the issuance of an airworthiness certificate. W hile the FAA continues to work to develop airworthiness standards for UAS, we request an experimental certificate be issued for the UAS operated by the applicant under either or both of the following provisions:

**21 .191** Experimental certificates. Experimental certificates are issued for the following purposes: (a) Research and development. Testing new aircraft design concepts, new aircraft equipment, new aircraft installations, new aircraft operating techniques, or new uses for aircraft. (b) Showing compliance with regulations. Conducting flight tests and other operations to show compliance with the airworthiness regulations including flights to show compliance for issuance of type and supplemental type certificates, flights to substantiate major design changes, and flights to show compliance with the function and reliability requirements of the regulations.

Since the experimental certificate can be used for commercial purposes such as market surveys, sales demonstrations, and customer crew training, we would expect that an experimental certificate woul d permit our commercial purpose as well.

The aircraft will not carry persons or property and will only fly under strict operational requirements. As the Phantom 3 UAS also carries no combustible fuel, weighs less than 3 pounds and is constructed primarily of plastics and composites, we propose the UAS is at least as safe, if not significantly safer than conventionally certified aircraft used within similar parameters.

If an experimental airworthiness certificate is not appropriate for this application, th en we request an exemption of 14 CFR Part21, Subpar t H, and the requirement for an airworthiness certificate in general, citing the equivalent level of safety outlined in the previous paragraph.

**14 CFR 91.203(a) & (b)**  

### Civ **il aircraft: Certifications**  **required.** The regulation provides that an airworthiness certificate, with the registration number assigned to the aircraft and a registration certificate must be aboard the aircraft. Additionally, subparagraph (b) provides that the airworthiness certificate be "displayed at the cabin or cockpit entrance so that it is legible to passengers or crew.”

As the UAS is too small to carry documentation, does not have an entrance and does not carry a crew, we propose the following in order to meet the intent of 91.203 and provide an equivalent level of safety. All documents deemed appropriate by the FAA for this aircraft will be located at the operational ground station for each flight in prox imity tothe PIC and VO and will be available for inspection on request. In order to identify the

aircraft, we propose to use the manufacturers model and production codes located on the aircraft as well as appropriate registration numbers and the telephone number of the manufacturer and J3 Photography affixed to the aircraft as well. Should the FAA deem appropriate, we will also affix the word “EXPERIMENTAL” in the largest possible lettering given the size of the UAS, as discussed further below.

**14 CFR**  **45. 23**  **Display** 

### of **marks; general and**  **45.29 Size**  

### of **marks.** These regulations provide that each aircraft must display "N" and the aircraft's registration number in letters at least 3 inches high. Additionally, the aircraft must display the word "EXPERIMENTAL" in letters at least 2 inche s high near the entrance to the cabi n, cockpit, or pilot station.

As the UAS does not have an entrance, may not have an FAA assigned registration number and is of such small size, we propose to affix the word “EXPERIMENTAL” in the largest possible lettering appropriate for the aircraft. Additionally, for each operation the ground station will be clearly identified with a banner containing the words “UAS G round Station” that will be of appropriate size to be seen by any observer of the aircraft operations. The ground station will also have all registration and identity documents

relating to the UAS.

**14 CFR 91.9 Civil**  

### aircraft 

### flight **manual, marking, and placard requirements.**  This regulation provides that no person may operate an aircraft unless a current, approved flight manual is in the aircraft. The intent of this requireme nt is to ensure that flight manual information is available to the aircrew while operating the aircraft.

J3 Photography requests an exemption to this requirement as the UAS cannot, given its size, carry the flight manual. To meet an equivalent level of safety, we propose to have the current manufacturers flight manual available to both the PIC and VO.

**14 CFR 91.109**  **Flight** 

### instruction; **Simulated instrument** 

### flight **and certain** 

### flight **tests.** The regulation provides that "No person may operate a civil aircraft that is being used for flight instruction unless that aircraft has full y functioning dual controls." The controls for the UAS do not currently have a set of fully functioning dual controls. If a UAS pilot is being trained, the pilot performing the training would be directly supervising and could take over the control s from the pilot in training if the need arose. This would be similar to the technique of a "throw

- over type" control wheel in some fixed wing aircraft. W e feel that this technique meets the intent 91 .109 and provides an equivalent level of safety.

**14 CFR 91.119**  **Minimum safe**  

### altitudes: **General.** The regulation provides that over sparsely populate d areas the aircraft cannot be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. Since the UAS will be operating at a m axim um 400 fe et AGL, we cannot com ply with this requirem ent and thus ask for an exem ption.**14 CFR**  

### 9l.l21A **ltimeter settings.** 

The regulation provides that aircraft shall maintain cruisi ng altitudes by reference to an altimeter setting available within 100 nautical miles of the aircraft. The UAV will always be flying below 400 feet AGL within VLOS of the PIC and VO that will provide separation from terrain, structures and other aircraft. Also, the UAS will continually transmit an AGL reading back to the controller at the ground station and the AGL lock in the UAS’s software will be set to 400 feet, providing an equivalent level of safety.

**14 CFR 91.151 Fuel**  **requirements for** 

### flight **in VFR**  

### conditions. The regulation provides that no person may begin a flight in an airplane under day

-V FR conditions unless there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and to fly after that for at least 30 minutes.

Wefeel that the intention here is to provide a reserve of fuel to remain aloft should a landing be delayed or the landing point changed. The UAS is smart battery powered and continually transmits battery charge information back to the ground station to be evaluated by the PIC who will return the UAS back to the ground station when the battery shows 20% remaining capacity.

**14 CFR Subpart**  **E (91.401** 

**- 91.4171** 

**- Maintenance, Preventive**  **Maintenance, and**  

### A**lterations.** The regulation provides that the operator is primarily responsible fo r maintaining the aircraft in an airworthy condition, including compliance with part 39 and 43. Paragraphs 91.407 and 91.409 require that the aircraft be "approved for return to service by a person authorized under 43.7" after maintenance and inspection.

Wepropose that the PIC perform maintenance and inspection and “be authorized to approve the aircraft for return to service.”