July 1st, 2015

U.S. Dept. of Transportation

Docket Operations West Building Ground Floor

Room w12-140

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.

Washington, DC 20590

Top Flight Digital Media LLC.

7610 Fairbanks Court

Hanover, MD 21076

VIA FEDERAL DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Re: Exemption Request under Section 333 of the FAA Reform Act and Part 11 of the Federal Aviation 

Regulations

Dear Sir or Madam:

 Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the “Reform Act”) and 14 

C.F.R. Part 11, Top Flight Digital Media LLC., seeks an exemption from Federal Aviation Regulations 

(“FARs”) detailed below for the following described Unmanned Aerial System called in this application 

the ME System, which includes an Unmanned Aircraft (UA) and ground station-based equipment and 

crew:

THE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT (UA):

ü A lightweight (20 lb. gross weight with all on-board equipment), manufactured by DJI, Inspire 1-

t-600,Phantom 3, FC40, Phantom2, Phantom 2 vision plus, S450, S800, S900, and S1000. Also,

including all 3D-Robitics UAS systems, Iris+, X8+, Aero-M, X8-M, and Solo, that includes the 

following equipment in flight;

ü An on-board flight computer with GPS navigation and location ability that receives signals for 

flight controls from a ground-based transmitter/controller;

ü An on-board camera capable of capturing imagery in the form of full color, high definition still 

photos and video;

ü An on-board telemetry system that delivers flight data from the on-board flight computer to the 

on-board radio transmitter including altitude AGL, horizontal and vertical speed, compass 

direction of flight and direction back to its launch site;

ü A 2.4GHz on-board radio transmitter that transmits live video from the on-board camera plus all 

the flight data from the telemetry system described above;

THE GROUD STATION –BASED PART OF THE SYSTEM:
ü A Pilot in Command (PIC) in operational control of a flight operation from beginning to end and 

who controls the UA while in the air;

ü A 2.4GHz radio transmitter/controller operated by the PIC to control the UA while in flight; A 

radio receiver receiving live video and flight data from the on-board camera and computer 

projects it all together onto a screen for the PIC to view during flight;

ü A Visual Observer (VO) is a person who provides a second pair of eyes to visually track the UA 

while in flight.

 The requested exemption would support an application for a commercial Certificate of Authorization 

to use the above described ME System to support Production of promotional materials (video and/or 

still images) for Real Estate sales Production of promotional

materials, (video and/or still images) for Travel and Tourism industriesProduction of promotional 

materials, (video and/or still images) for commercial businesses,Photography and videography of social 

events, such as weddings never operating over persons not directly involved with the ME system.

 The UA, powered by batteries, is smaller, lighter and more maneuverable than larger aircraft running 

on combustible fuel, it operates at lower altitudes with no people on board and will thereby reduce 

current risk levels and thereby enhance safety and diminish the likelihood of death or serious bodily 

injury. With a small payload and maximum flight time of only 18 minutes, this is offers little or no risk to 

national security.

 Low level oblique photos and video from several angles are far more effective than ground- based 

imagery for displaying the characteristics of large, complex properties with several buildings and large 

trees. The alternative could be to charter a full-sized helicopter for this purpose, which has proven more 

costly than many potential clients are able to afford. The benefits of reduced cost and improved quality 

of presentation from the UA will be valuable to and benefit many buyers and sellers of real property and 

marine property.

 Additionally, we request that we be allowed to use our system to benefit first responders nearby who 

might require assistance, including fire fighters, the police, the sheriff, et al., while remaining subject to 

all limitations cited in this application as we do so.

The ME System will be operated in the field with both a PIC and a VO in accordance with FAA Policy N 

8900.227 Section 14 "Operational Requirements for UAS" and with the following Restrictions:

a) No flight will be made with a UA Gross weight exceeding 55 pounds;

b) All operations must occur in FAA Class G airspace at no more than 400 ft AGL, at an airspeed of 

no more than 50 knots and no further than 3/4 NM from the PIC;

c) All operations must utilize a visual observer (VO). The VO and PIC must be able to communicate 

by voice at all times during a flight operation;

d) Operations will be restricted to flights over property with the permission of the property owner;

e) The PIC must have accumulated and logged, in a manner consistent with 14 CFR § 61.51 (b), a 

minimum of 100 flight cycles and 25 hours of total time as a UA rotorcraft pilot and at least ten 

hours logged as a UA pilot with a similar UA type;All required permits will be obtained from 

state and local government prior to operation;

f) The ME System will not be operated over densely populated areas;

g) The ME System will not be operated at air shows;
h) The ME System will not be operated over any open-air assembly of people;

i) The ME System will not be operated over heavily trafficked roads;

j) The ME System will not be operated within 5 NM of an airport or heliport;

k) Operations will be restricted to day only and weather conditions equivalent to VFR;

l) The PIC will brief the VO and property owner about the operation and risk before the first flight 

at each new location;

m) No flight may be made without a Pre-Flight Inspection by the PIC before each operation to

ascertain that the UA is in a condition safe for flight (see Appendix A).

 The PIC and VO will meet the requirements outlined in FAA Policy N 8900.227 Section 16 personnel 

Qualifications. Additionally, the PIC and VO will perform maintenance on the system and will complete a 

course of maintenance instruction as part of their initial training.

 We submit that the combination of the UA's light weight, flight performance and ability, fully qualified 

flight crew and strict operation under the guidelines established in 8900.227, and under all of the 

Restrictions (a) through (n) listed above, the FAA can have full confidence that the operation will have an 

equivalent or greater level of safety than manned aircraft performing the same mission.

The name and contact information of the applicant are:

Top Flight Digital Medial LLC. : Shaun Nathan Capps

Ph: 240-688-8392

Email: topflightdigital@gmail.com

The regulations from which the exemption is requested are listed below. Beside each regulation number 

is the page of the attached Addendum upon which each may be found together with our proposed 

equivalent level of safety for each regulation:

Ø 14 CFR Part 21.......................................Addendum Page 1 

Ø 14 CFR 91.203........................................Addendum Page 1

Ø 14 CFR 45.23, 45.29...............................Addendum Page 2

Ø 14 CFR 91.9............................................Addendum Page 2

Ø 14 CFR 61.113, 61.133...........................Addendum Page 2

Ø 14 CFR 91.109, 91.119, 91.121..............Addendum Page 3

Ø 14 CFR 91.151........................................Addendum Page 3

Ø 14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 - 91.417) ......Addendum Page 3

- FAA Policy 8900.227 Paragraph 16(c)(4) and Paragraph 16(e)(1) ...Addendum 1.

We are prepared to modify or amend any part of this request to satisfy the need for an equivalent level 

of safety. Please contact us at any time if you require additional information or clarification. We look 

forward to working with your office.

Sincerely,

Shaun Nathan Capps, Top Flight Digital Media, LLC.

Addendum containing Exemption Requests and Equivalent Level of Safety Appendix A – Flight Manual’s

Appendix B – Owner’s Manual for UA
ADDENDUM EXEMPTION REQUESTS AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY

Top Flight Digital Media LLC. requests an exemption from the following regulations as well as any 

additional regulations that may technically apply to the operation of the ME System:

14 CFR Part 21, Subpart H: Airworthiness Certificates

This part establishes the procedures for the issuance of an airworthiness certificate. While the FAA 

continues to work to develop airworthiness standards for Unmanned Aerial Systems, we request an 

experimental certificate be issued for the ME System 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 would permit our commercial purpose as well.

 The aircraft will not carry persons or property, will not carry fuel, and will only fly under strict 

operational requirements. Combined with the UA’s light weight, being constructed primarily of carbon 

fiber and plastic, we propose that the UA will be at least as safe, if not safer, than a conventionally 

certificated aircraft performing the same mission.

If an experimental airworthiness certificate is not appropriate for this application, then we request an 

exemption of 14 CFR Part 21, Subpart 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) Civil 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."

 At a maximum gross weight of 6.5 pounds, the UA is too small to carry documentation, does not have 

an entrance, and is not capable of carrying passengers or crew. To obtain an equivalent level of safety 

and meet the intent of 91.203, we propose that documents deemed appropriate for this aircraft by the 

FAA will be co-located with the crew at the ground control station and available for inspection upon 

request. In order to identify the aircraft, we propose that the information found on airworthiness and 

registration certificates be permanently affixed to the aircraft via placard containing the following 

information plus the word “EXPERIMENTAL” to satisfy the requirement of 14 CFR 45.23, which follows 

immediately after the proposed placard description below:

Appendix A
EXPERIMENTAL

Ø Manufacturer: DJI Innovations, Inc. 950 E Baseline Ave. Ste. 210, Apache Junction AZ 85119

Models: Inspire 1- t-600, Phantom 3 FC40, Phantom2, Phantom 2 vision plus, S450, S800, S900, 

and S1000.

Ø Manufacturer: 3D-Robitics Berkeley; Corporate HQ, 1608 4th Street, Suite 410, Berkeley, CA 

9471.

Models: Iris+, X8+, Aero-M, X8-M, and Solo

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 inches high near the entrance to the cabin, cockpit, or pilot station. The UA does not have an 

entrance in which the word "EXPERIMENTAL" can be placed, and may not have a registration number 

assigned to it by the FAA.

 We propose to achieve an equivalent level of safety by including the word "EXPERIMENTAL" in the 

placard on the top of the aircraft, as shown above, where the PIC, VO and others in the vicinity of the 

aircraft while it is preparing for launch will be able to see the designation. Additionally, we feel that the 

permanent placard discussed in the previous paragraph will provide the aircraft's registration 

information at the ground station. Finally, we will display at the ground station a high contrast flag or 

banner that contains the words "Unmanned Aircraft Ground Station" in letters 3 inches high or greater. 

Since the aircraft will operate within 3/4 NM of the ground station, the banner should be visible to 

anyone that observes the aircraft and chooses to investigate its point of origin.

• 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. We assume that the intent of this requirement is to ensure that flight manual 

information is available to the aircrew while operating the aircraft. We request an exemption to this 

requirement since the aircraft is not only too small to carry documentation, the documentation would 

not be available to the crew during flight operations.

To obtain an equivalent level of safety and meet the intent of 91.9, we propose that a current, approved 

UA Flight Manual (Appendix A) must be available to the crew at the ground station anytime the aircraft 

is in, or preparing for, flight.

• 14 CFR 61.113 Private pilot privileges and limitations: Pilot in Command and 61.133 Commercial 

pilot privileges and limitations.

The regulation provides that no person that holds a private pilot certificate may act as pilot in command 

of an aircraft for compensation or hire. Subparagraph (b) allows a private pilot to act as pilot in 

command of an aircraft in connection with any business or employment if: (1) The flight is only 

incidental to that business or employment; and (2) The aircraft does not carry passengers or property 

for compensation or hire.

Our proposed operations require that the PIC must either
1. Hold a Sport Pilot Certificate issued by the FAA, and have logged 25 hours of flight experience in 

this type of UA, or

2. Meet the requirements of 8900.227 para 16(c)(2)(c) "Operations without a pilot certificate" in 

which the PIC is required to complete "FAA private pilot ground instruction" and pass "the FAA 

Private Pilot written examination." Since there are currently no means available for the pilot of a 

UAS to gain the experience in an equivalent category and class in order to apply for a 

commercial pilot's license, we propose to generate an equivalent level of safety by requiring our 

pilots to complete, at a minimum, FAA commercial pilot ground instruction and pass the FAA 

Commercial Pilot written examination in addition to completing the private pilot requirements. 

Since the aircraft cannot carry passengers or property, we feel we meet the intent of 61.113 

Subparagraph (b) even though the intent of this application is to conduct a business.

14 CFR 91.109 Flight Instruction;

 Simulated instrument flight and certain flight tests

The regulation states that "No person may operate a civil aircraft that is being used for flight instruction 

unless that aircraft has fully functioning dual controls.”

 The ME System ground-based control station consists of a small hand-held radio transmitter and while 

it does not offer a second set of "controls", both the student and instructor can, and will, operate the 

single set of controls simultaneously. With both student and instructor having "hands-on" the controls 

during flight, we 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 states that over sparsely populated areas the aircraft cannot be operated closer than 

500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. Since the aircraft will be operating at a maximum of 

400 feet AGL, we cannot comply with this requirement.

In order to provide an equivalent level of safety we will only fly over private property with a size of at 

least two acres with the permission of the owner of the property flown over. The aircraft will not be 

operated over congested areas or over any open air assembly of persons. The property owner will be 

briefed on the expected route of flight and the associated risks to persons and property on the ground. 

The aircraft will be operated at a low altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing 

without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.

Therefore we maintain that due to the small size of the UA, the hazard to persons, vehicles and 

structures is minimal compared to manned aircraft, which should be considered in granting the 

exemption.

14 CFR 91.121 Altimeter settings.

 The regulation requires that aircraft shall maintain cruising altitudes by reference to an altimeter 

setting available within 100 NM of the aircraft.

The UA will always fly below 400 feet AGL and will not need to maintain cruising altitudes in order to 

prevent conflict with other aircraft. An Above Ground Level altimeter measurement above the takeoff 

point is transmitted via radio from the UA on-board computer to the display screen held by the PIC, 

providing a constantly updated AGL readout.
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-VFR 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. We feel the intention of this paragraph is to provide an energy reserve as a safety buffer for 

delays to landing. The UA is battery operated and the maximum duration of flight from a single battery 

charge is 18 minutes with a 20% reserve. Since the aircraft will never fly more than 3⁄4 NM from the 

point of intended landing, a full battery charge at launch will ensure that we meet the reserve energy 

requirement of this paragraph. We request an exemption to the word "fuel" and ask for an equivalent 

interpretation with the word "energy".

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 - 91.417) - Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Alterations

 The regulation provides that the operator is primarily responsible for 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.

 It is our intention that the PIC perform maintenance and inspection of the aircraft and "be authorized 

to approve the aircraft for return to service." As provided in the Pre-Flight Checklist in Appendix A, the 

PIC will ensure that the aircraft is in an airworthy condition prior to every flight and in addition conduct 

detailed inspections after every two hours of flight. Maintenance performed by the PIC is limited to 

repairing small cracks, replacing a propeller, checking electrical connections and updating software and 

firmware for the on-board computer. All other maintenance will be performed by the manufacturer or 

their designated repair facility. The PIC will document work performed in accordance with 91.417. We 

feel that due to the size, construction, and simplicity of the aircraft, the PIC can ensure an equivalent 

level of safety.

8900.227 Paragraph 16(c)(4) PIC Medical. and Paragraph 16(e)(1) Observer Medical.

 This policy provides that both the PIC and VO must have a valid FAA second-class medical certificate 

issued under part 67 in order to perform as a pilot or observer. The UA maximum gross weight is 6.5 

pounds, it is constructed of carbon fiber and plastic and the PIC is not on board. Both the PIC and the VO 

are required to be in VLOS. Given the unlikely event that both the PIC and VO become medically 

incapacitated while the aircraft is in flight, the UA will return autonomously to the site of launching and 

land without crew intervention.

 Therefore, requiring the PIC and VO to meet the same medical requirements as a commercial pilot 

carrying passengers in a large aircraft is an unnecessary burden.

 We propose that the minimum medical requirements for the PIC and VO be vision corrected to 20/20 

and a valid, state issued driver's license. The 20/20 vision requirement will ensure that the PIC and VO 

can see and avoid air traffic; a licensed driver is medically qualified to operate a much larger vehicle.

APPENDIX A – FLIGHT MANUAL

FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS

a) No flight will be made with a UA Gross weight exceeding 55 pounds;
b) All operations must occur in FAA Class G airspace at no more than 400' AGL, at an airspeed of 

no more than 50 knots and no further than 3/4 NM from the PIC;

c) All operations must utilize a visual observer (VO). The VO and PIC must be able to 

communicate verbally at all times during a flight operation;

d) Operations will be restricted to flights over property with the permission of the property 

owner; e) The PIC must have accumulated and logged, in a manner consistent with 14 CFR § 

61.51 (b), a minimum of 100 flight cycles and 25 hours of total time as a UA rotorcraft pilot and 

at least ten hours logged as a UA pilot with a similar UA type;

f) All required permits will be obtained from state and local government prior to operation; g) 

The ME System will not be operated over densely populated areas;

h) The ME System will not be operated at air shows;

i) The ME System will not be operated over any open-air assembly of people;

j) The ME System will not be operated over heavily trafficked roads;

k) The ME System will not be operated within 5 NM of an airport or heliport;

l) Operations will be restricted to day only and weather conditions equivalent to VFR;

m) The PIC will brief the VO and property owner about the operation and risk before the first 

flight at each new location;

n) No flight may be made without a successful Pre-Flight Inspection by the PIC before each 

operation to ascertain that the UA is in a condition safe for flight.

PREFLIGHT CHECKLIST

1. Remote controller, aircraft battery, and mobile device are fully charged.

2. Propellers are mounted correctly and firmly.

3. Micro-SD card has been inserted if necessary.

4. Gimbal is functioning as normal.

5. Motors can start and are functioning as normal.

6. DJI Pilot app connected to the aircraft.

TO REGAIN CONTROL AFTER LOST RADIO CONTACT

 If radio contact is lost and not restored within 3 seconds, an automatic Return to Home feature is 

activated and will bring the UAV back to the PIC.