# Karl Mortensen

7511 Woodpalace Ct Annandale, VA 22003 karl@dragonavionics.com (703 ) 3 5 4

- 1340

1 5 May 2015

Hon. Michael Huerta

Administrator

Federal Aviation Administration U. S. Department of Transportation Docket Management System 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590

Re: Exemption Request under Section 333 of the FAA Reform Act and Part 11 of the Federal Aviation Regulations from certain parts of the FARs.

Dear Administrator Huerta:

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Mo dernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the Reform Act) and
14 C.F.R. Part 11, Dragon Avionics LLC (“Dragon”) , a small Unmanned Aircraft System s (“sUAS”) operator , hereby applies for an exemption from the listed Federal Aviation Regulations (“FARs”) to allow D ragon to operate sUAS under the conditions and limitations set
forth in this Petition.

The requested exemption would permit the operation of small, unmanned and relatively inexpensive sUAS under controlled conditions in airspace that is (1) limited, (2) p redetermined, and (3) would provide safety enhancements to the already safe image gathering operations presently using manned helicopters and airplanes. Approval of this exemption would thereby enhance safety and fulfill the FAA Administrator’s responsibil ities to “...establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft systems in the national airspace system.” Section 333(c) of

the Reform Act.The name a nd address of the applicant is:

Dragon Avionics

Attn: Karl Mortensen

Email: karl @ dragonavionics .com Address: 7511 Woodpalace Ct. Annandale, VA 22003 Telephone: (703) 354

- 1340

Regulations from which the exemption is requested:

14 CFR Part 21 14 C.F.R. § 45.23(b) 14 CFR § 61.3 14 C.F.R. § 91.7 (a) 14 CFR § 91.9 (b) (2) 14 C.F.R. § 91.103 14 C.F.R. § 91.109 14 C.F. R. § 91.119 14 C.F.R. § 91.121 14 CFR § 91.151 (a) 14 CFR § 91.203 (a) & (b) 14 CFR § 91.205(b) 14 CFR § 91.215 14 CFR § 91.405 (a) 14 CFR § 407 (a) (1) 14 CFR § 409 (a) (2) 14 CFR § 417 (a) & (b) 3

The Appendix describes the FARs from which an exemption is requested and summarizes the justification for each requested exemption.

The Petition is submitted to fulfill Congress’ goal under Section 333(a) through (c) of the Reform
Act, which directs th e Secretary of Transportation to consider whether certain unmanned aircraft systems may operate safely in the national airspace system (NAS) before completion of the rulemaking required under Section 332 of the Reform Act. In making this determination, t he

Administrator must determine which types of UASs do not create a hazard to users of the NAS or the public or pose a threat to national security in light of the following: • The UAS’s size, weight, speed, and operational capability; • Operation of the UA S in close proximity to airports and populated areas; and • Operation of the UAS within visual line of sight of the operator. Reform Act § 333 (a).

If the Adminstrator determines that such vehicles “may operate safely in the national airspace
system, t he Secretary shall establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft in the national airspace system.” Id. § 333(c) (emphasis added).The Secretary has delegated his aviation authority to the Administrator of the FAA. The Federal

Aviation Ac t expressly grants the FAA the authority to grant exemptions from its regulatory requirements for civil aircraft, a term defined under §40101 of the Act, which includes sUAS. The Administrator may grant an exemption from a requirement of a regulation presc ribed under subsection (a) or (b) of this section or any sections 44702

- 44716 of the Federal Aviation Act if Administrator finds the exemption in the public interest. 49 U.S.C. § 44701(f) See also 49 USC § 44711(a); 49 USC § 44704; 14 CFR §91.203 (a) (1).

The petitioner is a n aerial imaging company, intending to do business imaging agricultural, real estate, surveying, and other needs. Dragon founders have been flying model aircraft for years and are prepared to sell their aerial imaging services. The fou nders are also familiar with ground

- based radar, UAV

- based radar

, Counter

- UAS radar systems, aerial imagery , digital signal processing, and a variety of U.S. military UAS.

The wide availability of sUAS

, sometimes known as “microdrones,” capable of carryi ng high

quality video equipment and priced at affordable levels fascinated the petitioner. Their careers

have involved exploring new technologies and adapting them to capture good information to help the U.S. warfighter with lifesaving real

- time informatio n

. Dragon founders have flown several different types of sUAS systems over the course of the last 7 years, involving locations in New York, Virginia, Alabama and Idaho, for recreational purposes, exploring the potential and

the limitations of various sUAS

, as well as exercising their image collection and processing subsystem. Dragon founders have also observed many professional UAS flights , involving everything from safety pre

- flight checks, to mid

- scenario command and control decis ions, to controlled landing. They have seen first

- hand successful and unsuccessful sUAS expeditions, and have learned from both. They are familar with a wide variety of sUAS systems and have chosen as their preferred aerial platforms those sUAS solutions that offer both low price, high reliability, and good operator control. They are pleased with the platforms chosen and the quality of the images captured , and have used imagery captured from their sUAS systems to provide situational awareness to farmers already.

Having prepared themselves to capture and process aerial imagery, proven that it aids farmers in making near

- real

- time decisions for their livelihood and real estate agents in displaying their wares, Dragon desires the ability to do this in a professional, compensated capacity. For this purpose, Dragon seeks special permission from the FAA by way of this document . Many competitors of Petitioner are actively flying sUAS to conduct aerial photography for commercial purposes, notwithstanding the FAA’s stated prohibition. Dragon also notes the congressional

mandate in sections 332 and 333 of the FAA Revitalization and Reform Act of 2012 that the FAA move quickly to accommodate the economic and societal benefits that can result from widespread deployment of sUAS technology. Accordingly, Petitioner applies for authorization under the Federal Aviation Act, and the FARs rules to undertake the following activities for commercial purposes. Unless the Petition is granted, Petitioner will be at a signi ficant competitive disadvantage, as Dragon intends to comply with FAA policy.Vehicle s

The Petitioner has tested many sUAS vehicles

, and intends to fly ArduPilot

- compatible vehicles

such as the 3DR Iris and those that are substantially similar . The 3DR Iris has already been approved by the FAA in multiple instances

. The ArduPilot flight controller has built

- in

c apa bility to limit the height the vehicle will fly above the ground, to limit the radius of the

distance the vehicle will fly from the operator, and to exclude the vehicle from class B, C, 5 an d D airspace. The petitioner has even designed a custom

- built avionics device called Screamy that enables a ground operator to trigger a lost

- drone alarm from their handheld controller or laptop ground control station. The vehicle s a lso h ave built

- in capability to return to the launching point if the wireless control link is interrupted or if the operator attempts to exceed any of the height, radius, or airspac e limitations programmed into the vehicle during the pre

- flight preparation
step

.

The vehicle s weigh around five pounds empt y and have a maximum gross weight of up to approximately ten pounds. Most have a top speed around 30 knots. The vehicles are standard

four

- channel, fi ve

- channel, or six channel sUAS systems. They have stan dard control surfaces,

with thrust varied by changing RPM. They are powe red by lithium polymer batteries

.

Flight profiles

The P etitioner will program the software controlling the vehicle so that it will not fly more than 400 feet above ground level, n or more than 1500 feet away from the operator. The operator will carefully preflight the vehicle before each mission to assure that its gyro compass and GPS system are properly calibrated and that the return

- to

- home feature, altitude, and radius

limitations a re enabled. Operation on aerial photography missions will mainly take place in the early morning hours and other times when f ew people are out and about. The operator will fly only over largely unpopulated areas

, where the potential of uncontrolled descent to cause injury or damage is low

.

As part of standard pre

- flight operations, Dragon operators will use the FAA ’ s B4UFLY mobile
app to determine whether there are any restrictions or requirements in effect at the location where they want to fl y

.

The operator will not operate in controlled airspace. In the unlikely event that a manned aircraft

flies below 400 feet AGL where a safety hazard could exist, the operator will keep both the

vehicle and manned aircraft in sight and avoid the manned aircraft , deferring to manned aircraft

at all times

. More particularly, the Petitioner will fly only where invited or commissioned by the person in legal possession of the property to do so and where allowed by law.

All Drag on operators will undertake a period of at least twelve hours flight training with a simulator and actual vehicles, ensuring that the operator is proficient in anticipating and responding to situations or events that might interfere with safe flight, with ground operations,

or with manned aircraft.The Petitioner's proposed operations satisfy the criteria provided in Section 333 of the Reform

Act relating to size, weight, speed, operating capabilities, pr oximity to airports and populated areas and operation within visual line of sight and national security. The Petition justifies grant of the requested exemptions to allow the Petitioner to perform aerial imagery for compensation

.

Respectfully submitted,

Karl D. Mortensen Founder, Dragon Avionics

# Appendix FAR

section Subject Justification

14 CFR § 45.23(b) Requirement to display registration number on

vehicle Insufficient space on

vehicle

14 CFR Part 21 Aircraft certification requirements and procedures Designed for manned
aircraft; not suitable for off

the

- shelf sUAS 14 CFR § 61.3 Requirement for pilot

certificate Part 61 requirements designed for manned aircraft, not sUAS; petition

describes traini ng for sUAS
operator 14 CFR § 91.7 (a) Airworthiness requirement Designed for manned
aircraft; not suitable for off

the

- shelf sUAS 14 CFR § 91.9 (b) (2) Requirement for manual to be available in the cockpit No one aboard to read

manual 14 CFR § 91.103(b) Requirement for crew

members to be onboard Unmanned vehicle

14 CFR § 91.109 Requirement for dual controls during flight

instruction No one aboard to operate

controls

14 CFR § 91.119 Minimum altitudes for safe flight Safety requ ires operation

below these altitudes 14 CFR § 91.121 Altimeter settings No one aboard to read

altimeter 14 CFR § 91.151(a) Fuel requirements Vehicle does not use fuel 14 CFR § 91.203 (a) & (b) Requirement for registration and

airworthiness certificates to

be onboard No one aboard to read

certificates

14 CFR § 91.205(b) Cockpit instruments No one aboard to read