January 2, 2016

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

Re: Exemption Request Section 333 of the FAA Reform Act and Part 11 of the Federal Aviation Regulations from 14 C.F.R. 45.23(b); 14 CFR Part 21; 14 CFR 61.113 (a) & (b); 91.7 (a); 91.9 (b) (2); 91.103(b); 91.109; 91.119; 91.121; 91.151(a); 91.203(a) & (b); 91.405 (a); 91.407(a) (1); 91.409 (a) (2); 91.417 (a) & (b).

To Whom I t May

Concern, Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the Reform Act) and 14 C.F.R. Part 11, Adam John Welsh , a freelance photographer, videographer, and operator of a Small Unmanned Aircraft Sy stem ("sUAS"), hereb y applies for an exemption from the listed Federal Aviation Regulations ("FARs") to allow commercial operation of his Small Unmanned Aircraft S ys tems.

Proposed operation would include:

● Newsgathering/Media

● Weather Related Events and Phenomena

● Nature and Landscape Photograph y and Videograph y
● Improve Safet y and Create Awareness for Current and Future UAS Utilization

Adam Welsh is currentl y attending Embry Riddle Aeronaut ical Universit y to obtain his Bachelors in Unmanned Sy stems Applications and will be utilizing his knowledge of sUAS’s to further educate the public on the safe operation and benefits associated with sUAS operations.

Ap proval of this exemption would enh ance safety and fulfill the Secretary

of Transportation's responsibilities as outlined in Section 333 (c) of the Reform Act.

The name and address of the applicant is: Adam Welsh 1325 N. Nail Parkway Moore, OK 73160 Ph: (360) 320

- 5119 Email: Kinderfe@ ya hoo.comRegulations from which the exemption is requested: 14C.F.R.Part21, 14 C.F.R.

45.23(b), 14C.F.R.61.113(a)& (b), 14C.F.R.91.7(a), 14 C.F.R. 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, 14C.F.R.91.151(a), 14C.F.R.91.203(a)&(b), 14C.F.R.91.405(a), 14 C.F.R. 407(a)(1), 14C.F.R.409(a)(2), 14C.F.R.417(a)&(b) sUAS's submitted f

or exemption of the above safety regulations: DJIPhantom 3 Professional , Yuneec Q500 4K

**STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR EXEMPTIONS** The Federal Aviation Act expressly grants the FAA authority to issue exemptions. This statutory authority includes exempting ci vil aircraft, as the term is defined under §40101 of the Act, including sUAS's, from the requirement that all civil aircraft must have a current airworthiness certificate. The Administrator may

grant an exemption from a requirement of a regulation prescri bed under subsection (a) or (b) of this section or an y s ections 44702-44716 of this title if the Administrator finds the exemption in the public interest. 49 U.S.C. §44701(f) Section 333(b) of the Reform Act assists the Secretary in determining whether sU AS may operate in the National Airspace S ys tem (NAS) without creating a hazard to the user, the public, or a threat to national securit y. In making this determination, the Secretary must consider: • The UAS's size, weight, speed, and operational capabilit y; • Whether the UAS operates within the visual line of sight of the operator • Whether the UAS operates outside of highl y populated areas and away from close proximity

to airports

Reform Act §333(a). If the Secretary determines that a UAS "may o perate safel y in the national airspace s ys tem, the Secretary shall establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft in the national airspace sy stem." Id. §333(c).

Adam Welsh’s sUA S's are quad copters , weighing 5 pounds or less including pay load. They operate under normal conditio ns at a speed of no more than 35 knots and have the capability to hover, and move in the vertical and horizontal plane simultaneously . The sUAS's will operate onl y in the pilot's visual line of sight at all times and in a safe area.

**PUBLIC INTEREST** The use of sUAS's for newsgathering purposes can provide the general public an additional avenue for getting news quickly and efficiently

UAS's allow media to gather information by providing live video with little interf erence and in a relative safe manner.**SAFETY** Adam Welsh proposes that the exemption requested herein apply to civil

aircraft that have the characteristics and that operate with the limitations listed herein. These limitations provide for an equivalent or higher level of safet y because operations will further e nhance the safet y of the persons and/or propert y using conventional aircraft. These limitations and conditions to which the applicant agrees to adhere to when conducting commercial operations under the FAA issued exemption as set forth in the Flight Operat ions Manual (FOM) include:

● The UAS will be less than 55 pounds.

● Flights will be operated within visual line of sight of a pilot.

● Maximum total flight time for each operational flight will be 15-20 minutes. The sUAS calc ulates battery reserve in real time, and will return to its ground station with at least 20% battery power reserve should that occur prior to the 30

- minute limit.

● Flights will be operated at an altitude of no mor e than 400 feet AGL.

● The flights will occur no closer than a 5

- mile radius of the geographic center/Airport Reference Point (ARP) of a tower controlled or uncontrolled airport.

● All flights will occur under Visual Flight Rules Meteorological Conditions (VMC) only

. ● Crew for each operation will consist of the sUAS pilot who will keep the sUAS within his/her visual line of sight at all t imes. As well as a camera operator (when deemed necessary ) focusing on photo/video composition.

● The sUAS pilot will be trained in flight, operations, and safet y procedures via FAA regulations and the owner's manuals.

● All onsite personnel will consent to the sUAS flyover on site b y waiver, and the operator will obtain additional verbal or written consent of all persons who will be allowed within 100 feet of the flight operation.

● The pilot will have been trained in operation of sUAS generall y and received
up
- to

- date information on the particular sUAS to be operated.

● Written and/or oral permission from the relevant propert y holders will be obtained.

● All required permissions and permits will be obtained from territorial, state, county or city jurisdictions, including local law enforcement, fire, or other appropriate governmental agencies.

● If the sUAS loses communications with the remote controller or loses GPS signal, the sUAS will have the capability to return to a pre-determined location within a designated location and land autonomously .

● Th e sUAS will have the capability to abort a flight in case of unpredicted obstacles, weather, or emergencies.**SPECIFIC REGULATIONS**

14 CFR Part 21, Subpart H: Airworthiness Certificates 14 C.F.R. §91203(a)(1) Subpart H, entitled Airworth iness Certificates, establishes the procedural requirements for the issuance of airworthiness certificates as required by FAR §91.203 (a) (1). Given the size and small operating area associated with the sUAS to be utilized by the Adam Welsh , an exemption f

rom Part 21 Subpart H meets the requirements of an equivalent level of safety under Part 11 and Section 333 of the Reform Act. The Federal Aviation Act (49 U.S.C.§44701 (f)) and Section 333 of the Reform Act both authorize the FAA to exempt aircraft from t he requirement for an airworthiness certificate, upon consideration of the size, weight, speed, operational capability , and proximity to airports and populated areas of the particular UAS. His small UAS will be operated at low speed in a controlled environ ment, at least five miles from an airport and more than three miles from any city or densel y populated area. An anal ys is of these criteria demonstrates that the UAS operated without an airworthiness certificate, in the restricted environment and under the conditions proposed will be at least as safe, or safer, than a conventional aircraft (fixed wing or helicopter) operating with an airworthiness certificate without the restrictions and conditions proposed.

The sUAS's to be operated are less than 5 lbs. fully load ed, carries neither a pilot nor passenger, carries no explosive materials or flammable liquid fuels, and operates exclusively within a secured area as set out in the Manual. L ike other civil aircraft, operations under this exemption will be tightly controlled and monitored by the operator, pursuant to the Manual's requirements, and under the requirements and in compliance with local public safet y requirements. Lastl y, application of these same criteria demonstrates that there is no credibl e threat to national securit y posed b y the UAS, due to its size, speed of operation, location of operation, lack of explosive materials or flammable liquid fuels, and ability to carry an external load no greater than two lbs.

14 C.F.R. 45.23(b): Marking of the Aircraft This regulation requires certain experimental, provisionally certificated aircraft, or light sport category aircraft to be marked with letters between 2 inches and 6 inches high "limited," "restricted," " light sport ," "experimental," or "pr ovisional," near each entrance to a cabin, cockpit, or pilot station.

Even though the UAS will have no airworthiness certificate, an exemption may be needed as the UAS will have no entrance to the cabin, cockpit or pilot station on which the word "Experi mental" can be placed. Given the size of the UAS, two

- inch lettering will be impossible. The word "Experimental" will be placed on the fuselage in compliance with §45.29 (f). The equivalent level of safet y will be provided by having theUAS marked on its f uselage as required b y §45.29 (f) where the pilot, observer and others working with the UAS will see the identification of the UAS as "Experimental." The FAA has issued the following exemptions to this regulation: Exemptions Nos. 10700, 8738,10167 and 1016 7A.

14 CFR 61.113 (a) & (b): Private pilot privileges and limitations: Pilot in command (PI C) Sections 61.113 (a) & (b) limit private pilots to non-commercial operations. Because the UAS will not carry a pilot or passengers, the proposed operations can

a chieve the equivalent level of safet y of current operations b y requiring the PI C operating the aircraft to have a private pilot’s license rather than a commercial pilot’s license to operate this small UAS. Unlike a conventional aircraft that carries the pi lot and passengers, the sUAS is remotely controlled with no living thing on board. The area of operation is controlled and restricted, and all flights are planned and coordinated in advance as set forth in the Manual. The level of safety provided exceeds t hat provided b y a single individual holding a commercial pilot’s certificate operating a conventional aircraft. The risks associated with the operation of the sUAS are so diminished from the level of risk associated with commercial operations contemplated by Part 61 when drafted, that allowing operations of the sUAS as requested with a private pilot as the PI C exceeds the present level of safet y achieved b y 14 C.F.R. §61.113 (a) & (b).).

14 C.F.R. 91.7 (a): Civil aircraft airworthiness The regulation requ ires that no person
may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in airworthy condition. As there will be no airworthiness certificate issued for the aircraft, should this exemption be granted, no FAA regulatory

standard will exist for determining airworthine ss. Given the size of the aircraft and the requirements contained in the Manual for maintenance and use of safet y checklists prior to each flight, as set forth in Section B and Section G, an equivalent level of safet y will be provided.

14 CFR 91.9 (b)(2): Civil aircraft flight manual, marking, and placard requirements The UAS, given its size and configuration has no ability or place to carry such a flight manual on the aircraft, not only

because there is no pilot on board, but because th ere is no room or capacity

to carry such an item on the aircraft. The equivalent level of safety will be maintained by

keeping the flight manual at the ground control point where the pilot fly ing the UAS will have immediate access to it. The FAA has issued the following exemptions to this regulation: Exemption Nos. 8607, 8737, 8738,9299,9299A, 9565,9565B, 10167,10167A, 10602,32827, and 10700.

14 C.F.R. 91.103: Preflight Action This regulation requires each pilot in command take certain actions before flig ht to ensure the safet y of flight. An exemption is needed from this requirement as the pilot will take separate preflight actions, including checking forweather conditions, propeller inspection, checking flight battery requirements, checking takeoff and l anding distances, and all other actions in the preflight checklist. These actions will provide an equivalent level of safet y.
14 C.F.R. 91.109: Flight Instruction Section 91.103 provides that no person may operate a civil aircraft (except a manned free b alloon) that is being used for flight instruction unless that aircraft has fully functioning dual controls. By design, UAS and remotely piloted aircraft do not have fully functional dual controls. Flight control is accomplished through the use of a contro l box that communicates with the aircraft via radio communications. The FAA has previousl y approved exemptions for aircraft without fully

functional dual controls. See Exemption Nos.5778K & 9862A. The equivalent level of safet y provided b y the fact that ne ither a pilot nor passengers will be carried in the aircraft, the ability to control the UAS via radio signals from the controller, and by the size and speed of the aircraft.

14 C.F. R. 91.119: Minimum Safe Altitudes Section 91.119 establishes safe altit udes for operation of civil aircraft. Section 91.119 (d) allows helicopters to be operated at less than the minimums prescribed, provided the person operating the helicopter complies with any route or altitudes prescribed for helicopters by the FAA. As thi s exemption is for a sUAS that is a helicopter and the exemption requests authorit y to operate at altitudes up to 400 AGL , an exemption may be needed to allow such operations. As set forth herein, except for the limited conditions stated in the Manual, the UAS will never operate at higher than 400 AGL. It will however be operated in a manner where buildings and people will not be exposed to operations without their pre-obtained consent.

14 C.F.R. §91.121 Altimeter Settings This regulation requires each pe rson operating an aircraft to maintain cruising altitude b y reference to an altimeter that is set “...to the elevation of the departure airport or an appropriate altimeter setting available before departure.” As the sUAS may not have a barometric altimeter , but instead a GPS altitude read out, an exemption is requested . An equivalent level of safety will be achieved by

the operator, pursuant to the Manual and Preflight Checklist, confirming the altitude readout of the sUAS is set to 0ft (QFE operations) on the GPS altitude indicator before flight.

14 C.F.R. § 91.151(a): Fuel Requirements for Flight in VFR Conditions Section 91.151 (a) prohibits an individual from beginning “a flight in an airplane under VFR conditions unless (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing, and, assuming normal cruising speed

– (1) During the day , to fl y after that for at least 30 minutes; or (2) At night, to fly after that for at least 45 minutes.” The ba ttery

powering the sUAS provides approximately 40 minutes of powered flight. To meet the 30

- minute reserve requirement in 14 CFR §91.151, sUAS flightswould be limited to approximately 10 minutes in length. Given the limitations on the UAS’s proposed fligh t area and the location of its proposed operations within a predetermined area, a longer time frame for flight in day light or night VFR conditions is reasonable.

Applicant believes that an exemption from 14 CFR §91.151(a) falls within the scope of prior exemptions (11857, 11825, 11204). Operating the small UAS, in a tightly controlled area where onl y people and propert y owners or official representatives who have signed waivers will be allowed, with less than 30 minutes of reserve fuel, does not engender the ty pe of risks that Section 91.151(a) was intended to alleviate given the size and speed of the small UAS. Additionally , limiting sUAS flights to 10 minutes would greatly reduce the utility for which the exemption will be granted. Applicant believes tha t an equivalent level of safety

can be achieved by

limiting flights to 30 minutes or 25% of battery power whichever happens first. This restriction would be more than adequate to return the sUAS to its planned landing zone from an ywh ere in its limited oper ating area.

14 CFR 91.203 (a) & (b): Carry ing civil aircraft certification and registration The regulation provides in part: (a) Except as provided in § 91.715, no person may operate a civil aircraft unless it has within it the following: (1) An appropriate and current airworthiness certificate. ... (b) No person may operate a civil aircraft unless the airworthiness certificate required b y paragraph (a) of this section or a special flight authorization issued under §91.715 is display ed at the cabi n or cockpit entrance so that it is legible to passengers or crew. The UAS
, ful ly loaded, weighs no more than 5 lbs

. and is operated without an onboard pilot. Therefore there is no ability or place to carry certification and registration documents or to di splay them on the UAS.

An equivalent level of safety will be achieved by

keeping these documents at the ground flight control point where the pilot fly ing the UAS will have immediate access to them, to the extent they

are applicable to the UAS. The FAA h as issued numerous exemptions to this regulation. A representative sample of other exceptions includes Exemption Nos. 9565, 9665, 9789, 9789A, 9797, 9797A, 9816A, and 10700.

14 CFR 91.405 (a); 407 (a)(1); 409 (a)(2); 417 (a) & (b): Maintenance inspection s These regulations require that an aircraft operator or owner "shall have that aircraft inspected as prescribed in subpart E of this part and shall between required inspections, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, have discrepancies repai red as prescribed in part 43 of this chapter...," and others shall inspect or maintain the aircraft in compliance with Part 43.Given that these sections and Part 43 appl y only to aircraft with an airworthiness

certificate, these sections will not apply to sUAS's. Maintenance will be accomplished by the operator pursuant to the flight manual and operating handbook as referenced in the Manual. An equivalent level of safet y will be achieved because these small UASs are
very limited in size and will carry a small pay load and operate only in restricted areas for limited periods of time. If mechanical issues arise the UAS can land immediately and will be operating from no higher than 400 feet AGL. As provided in the Manual, the operator will ensure that the UAS is in working order prior to initiating flight, perform required maintenance, and keep a log of an y m aintenance performed. Moreover, the operator is the person most familiar with the aircraft and best suited to maintain the aircraft in an airworth y condit ion to provide the equivalent level of safet y.
Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. Part 11, the following summary is provided for publication in the Federal Register, should it be determined that publication is needed:

Applicant seeks an exemption from the following rules: 14 C.F.R. §21, subpart H; 14 C.F.R 45.23(b);14 C.F.R. §§ 61.113( a) & (b);91.7(a); 91.9 (b) (2);91.103(b);91.109; 91.119; 91.121; 91.15l(a);91.203(a) and (b); 91.405 (a); 91.407 (a) (1); 91.409 (a) (2); 91.409 (a) (2) and 91.417 (a) & (b) to opera te commerciall y a small unmanned vehicle (55bs or less) in videograph y and photography in news, media and marketing.

Allowing commercial operations of UAS in aerial photography and videograph y enhance safet y while reducing risk. These lightweight aircraf t operate at slow speeds, close to the ground, and in a sterile environment, as a result, are far safer than conventional operations conducted with turbine helicopters operating in close proximity to the ground and people.

The Operations described in thi s exemption request will be conducted wholly within the United States

As directed in Section 333 of the Reform Act, the authority contained in the Federal Aviation Act, as amended; the strong equivalent level of safet y surrounding the proposed operations , and the significant public benefit, including enhanced safet y, the grant of the requested exemptions is in the public interest. Accordingl y, Adam John Welsh respectfull y requests that the FAA grant the requested exemption.

Sincerel y,

Adam John Welsh1325 N. Nail Parkway

Moore, OK 73160 Ph: (360) 320

- 5119 Email: Kinderfe@y ahoo.com