800 Independence Ave., S.W.

Washington, DC 20591

February 22, 2016

Professor Grant W. Petty

Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

University of Wisconsin-Madison

1225 W. Dayton St

Madison, WI 53706

Dear Professor Petty:

This is in response to your letter dated November 24, 2015, posted to the public docket 

(No. FAA-2015-6781) petitioning the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to initiate 

rulemaking to amend § 103.1 of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). In your 

petition, you request an expansion of the definition of an Ultralight Vehicle to include 

“use for noncommercial scientific research”. You indicate that other entities conduct 

scientific research with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) , the Department of Energy, and 

other state and federal agencies. 

An ultralight vehicle, as you mentioned, allows a “flexible program of low altitude, low 

speed measurements or observations that only a ultralight vehicle can make possible.” 

However, other conventional aircraft such as helicopters, and other specially-equipped, 

FAA-certificated aircraft are also capable of providing support for such scientific 

research safely without the need for an exemption or rulemaking change as requested. 

The certificated aircraft would be operated by airman certificated per 14 CFR part 61 and 

meeting a standard of training and testing not required currently per 14 CFR § 103.7(b)

for ultralight vehicle operators. That section states, in pertinent part, that “operators of 

ultralight vehicles are not required to meet any aeronautical knowledge, age, or 

experience requirements to operate those vehicles or to have airman or medical 

certificates.”

In accordance with 14 CFR § 11.73, the FAA must use the following criteria when 

making a decision as to whether or not to amend current regulations based on a petition 

for rulemaking:

1) The immediacy of the safety or security concerns you raise;
2

2) The priority of other issues the FAA must deal with; and 

3) The resources we have available to address these issues.

Each year, the FAA prioritizes its rulemaking projects based on issues that are crucial to 

the safety of the aviation community and the traveling public to ensure the FAA delivers 

the most value to the aviation system. 

After reviewing your request based on the current priorities for the FAA and the 

guidelines found in § 11.73, we determined the issue you raised does not meet the criteria 

to pursue rulemaking at this time. However, your comments and arguments for the 

proposed rule change in your petition will be placed in a database, which we will 

examine when we consider future rulemaking. 

If the FAA does pursue rulemaking in this area in the future, you would be able to find 

out and track it through one of the two following websites:

 For significant rulemakings, you can find the status on the Department of 

Transportation’s (DOT) website (http://www.dot.gov/regulations/report-onsignificant-rulemakings). 

 For non-significant rulemakings, you can find the status on the DOT’s semiannual regulatory agenda, through the Office of Management and Budget’s 

(OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affair’s (OIRA) Unified 

Agenda website (http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain). 

For the reasons above, we are dismissing your petition for rulemaking in accordance with 

14 CFR § 11.73.

Sincerely,

/s/

John Barbagallo

Deputy Director, Flight Standards Service