Palmetto Creative Imaging 844 Farm Quarter Road Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464

843.884.1612

November 20, 2015

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

RE: Exemption Request under Sect ion 333 of the FAA Modernizatio n and Reform

Act of 2012 and 14 C.F.R. Part 11

Dear Madam, Sir,

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and 14 C.F.R. Part 11, Palmetto Creative Imagi ng (PCI) seeks an exemption fro m the Federal Aviation Regulations detailed below for the DJI Phantom 2 and DJI Phanto m 3 Professional UAS. The maximum gross takeoff weight of this UAS is 2.8 lbs. The DJ I Phantom 2 and 3 are

multi-rotor aircraft with electr ic propulsion. They are commerc ial platforms from DJI with a proven track record and have been approved for flights in the National Airspace under

several different FAA Se ction 333 Exemptions.

The requested exemption would allow PCI to pursue commercial in terests in aerial data collection using small unmanned aircraft systems. The DJI Phant oms 2 and 3 will be used for low level aerial photography o f both vacant and developed p roperties in support of landscape architecture, civil engineering, planning and real es tate services related to site reconnaissance, view assessment, and surrounding development st atus/impact. The team at PCI will operate in accordance with FAA N 8900.227 and utilize both a Pilot in Command and a ground-based visual obs erver. PCI will also utili ze emergency, lost link, and lost communication procedures that are available upon reque st. All flights under these exemptions wil l be conducted with the following restricti ons:

1. Flights will be in Class G air space at no more than 200’ AGL

.

2. The UAS will be oper ated over private property only with the permission of the

owner.

3. The UAS will not be oper ated over populated areas.

4. The UAS will not be operated within 5 NM of an airport.

5. Operations will be limited to d aytime operations under visua l meteorological

conditions.

6. The aircraft will remain within visual line of sight of the observer at no more than 1/2 NM range.Exemption Request Under Section 333
November 20, 2015

Page 2 7. A NOTAM will be issued pr ior to flight operations.

8. The UAS will have a maximu m GTOW of less than 55 lbs.

9. The aircrafts will be U.S. regi stered and display the N-numb er.

10. The PIC and Observer will posse ss the certifications requir ed under N

8900.227.

11. No operator or observer will engage in, nor may an operator or observer permit, any activity during a critical phase of flight which could dist ract any operator or observer from the performance of h is/her duties or interfere in any way with the proper conduct of his/her duties.

12. The PIC will conduct a pre-f light inspection prior to each flight so as to ensure

that the UAS and asso ciated systems are in a condition for safe operation.

13. The PIC and observers will maintain two-way communications with each other during all operations; if unable to maintain two-way communicat ions, or if any condition occurs that may otherwise cause the operation to be u nsafe, the operator will immediately conc lude the operation.

14. The aircraft will automatically return to a specific locati on if the communications

link is lost.

15. All flights will be c onducted below 70mph.

The regulations from which the exemption is reques ted are as fo llows. The Appendix contains details of the PCI oper ations related to showing an eq uivalent level of safety for these exempt regulations.

 14 C.F.R. Part 21, Subpart H

 14 C.F.R. §91. 203(a) and (b)

 14 C.F.R. §45.23(b)

 14 C.F.R. §61.23(a)

 14 C.F.R. §61. 113(a) and (b)

 14 C.F.R. §61.133(a)

 14 C.F.R. §91.7(a)

 14 C.F.R. §91.9

 14 C.F.R. §91.109(a)

 14 C.F.R. §91.119

 14 C.F.R. §91.121

 14 C.F.R. §91.151(a)

 14 C.F.R. Subpart E (§91.401 - §91.417)Exemption Request Under Section 333
November 20, 2015

Page 3 UAS Overview PCI is submitting this request for exemption for the DJI Phanto m 2 and 3 UAS. These commercial systems from DJI have been shown to be reliable and are popular products utilized by hobbyists and professionals. PCI has expertise and knowledge in the operations of these systems. W e will utilize training and opera tional procedures that follow the guidelines pres ented in N 8900.227.

PCI is planning on using the proposed UAS to pursue further com mercial applications. The UAS is multi-rotor aircraft with electric propulsion. Figur e 1 below contains an image

of the DJI Phantom 2 which has a G TOW of 2.9 lbs. and measures 14" x 14" x 7". Figure 2 contains an image of the DJI Phantom 3 which has a GTOW of 2. 8 lbs. and measures 14" x 14" x 7". PCI proposes that the small size and weight of the UAS included in this request for exemption, flown under the guidelines of N 8900.227 , will have an equivalent level of safety to manned aircra ft performing similar missions.

Figure 1: The DJI Phantom 2 UAS.

Figure 2: The DJI Phantom 3 Professional UAS.

The name and contact information of the applicant are as follow s:

Palmetto Creative Imaging Attn: W. Warren Pruitt, Jr.
844 Farm Quarter Road Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 Phone: (843) 884-1612

E-mail: wwpruitt@att.netExemption Request Under Section 333
November 20, 2015

Page 4 PCI requests exemption under Section 333 to enable safe commerc ial UAS operations for the activities stated. By approving these exemptions the FA A will create benefits to

the areas mentioned that is ultima tely in the public interest. Please contact us if you require additional inform ation or clarification.

Sincerely, Palmetto Creative Imaging

W. Warren Pruitt, Jr., ASLAExemption Request Under Section 333
November 20, 2015

Page 5 APPENDIX Specific Exemption Requests and Equivalent Level of Safety Show ings

14 C.F.R. Part 21, Subpart H: Airworthiness Certificates 14 C.F.R. §91.203(a) and (b) - Ci vil aircraft: Certifications r equired. Section 91.203 requires all civil aircraft to have a certificat e of airworthiness. Part 21, Subpart H, entitled Airworthiness Certificates, establishes the procedural requirements

for the issuance of airworthine ss certificates as required by F AR §91.203(a). PCI requests an exemption from thes e rules and will utilize an inte rnal airworthiness process based on MIL-HDBK 516B for an equi valent level of safety.

Such an exemption meets the re quirements of an equivalent level of safety under Part

11 and Section 333 of the Reform A ct. The Federal Aviation Act and Section 333 of the

Reform Act both authorize the FAA to exempt aircraft from the r equirement for an airworthiness certificate, upon consideration of the size, weig ht, speed, operational capability, and proximity to air ports and populated areas of th e UAS involved.

14 C.F.R. §45.23(b) - Display of marks; general. These regulations provide that each aircraft must display "N" a nd the aircraft’s registration number in letters at l east 3 inches high. Addition ally, the aircraft must display the word "EXPERIMENTAL" in letters at least 2 inches hi gh near the entrance to the cabin, cockpit, or pilot sta tion. Given the small size of t he UAS, this requirement is impossible to match. The equiva lent level of safety will be ach ieved by having the registered N-number in 1 inch l ettering on the side of the fuse lage.

14 C.F.R. §61.23(a) - Medical certificates: Requirement and dur ation. Regulations provide that a per son must hold at least a second c lass medical certificate when exercising:

Second-in-command privileges of an airline transport pilot cert ificate in part 121 of this chapter (other than operations s pecified in paragraph (a)(1)(ii ) of this section); or

Privileges of a commercial pilot certificate

Given the size of the UAS in th is petition and the limited flig ht area and the safety features integrated in the autopilo t PCI believes that an Equiv alent Level of Safety can be reached if the operator has a valid driver’s license.

14 C.F.R. §61.113(a) and (b), §61. 133 - Private Pilot Privilege s and Limitations:

Pilot in Command; Commercial Pilot Privileges and Limitations Subsections (a) and (b) of §61. 113 prohibit private pilots from operating aircraft in commercial operations, and §61.133( a) requires an individual op erating an aircraft for compensation or hire to hold a commercial pilot certificate.Exemption Request Under Section 333
November 20, 2015

Page 6 PCI requests an exemption from 14 C.F.R. §61.113( a) and (b) and 14 C.F.R. §61.133(a) so that above menti oned UAS may be oper ated by indiv iduals who have a private pilot certificate. Bas ed upon the design features of th e UAS, its autopilot system, and safety factors, the FAA s hould permit operation of UAS by o perators with a private pilot certificate when the conditi ons described above have been satisfied.

The above-described conditions ar e in-line with those set forth in Volume 16, Chapter 4,

Section 1 of FAA Order 8900.1.

PCI proposes to conduct operations i n accordance with these res trictions. Given these conditions and restrictions, an equivalent level of safety to m anned operations will be achieved through operation with a private pilot certificate. Th e risks associated with the operation of the DJI multi-roto r aircraft (given the size, spee d, operational capabilities, and lack of combustible fuel) are so much less than the level o f risk associated with fixed wing and rotorcraft operati ons, both private and commerci al, as contemplated by Part 61, that allowing operations of these UAS, as set forth ab ove, meets or exceeds the present level of safety pr ovided under 14 C. F.R. §61.113(a) and (b) and §61.133(a).

14 C.F.R. §91.7(a) - Civil aircr aft flight manual, marking, and placard requirements This regulation requires that no person may operate a civil air craft unless it is in airworthy condition. PCI requests that an exempt ion be granted allowing commercial operation without an airwor thiness certificate.

Given the size of the aircraft s elf-certificati on utilizing MIL -HDBK 516B wil l provide an equivalent level of safety.

14 C.F.R. §91.9(b)- Civil aircr aft 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. PCI assumes that the intent of this requirement is to ensure that flight manual i nformation is available to the aircrew while operating the aircraft. PCI requests an exempt ion to this requirement since t he aircraft is not only too small to carry documentation, but the documentation would not b e available to the crew. The equivalent level of safety will be achieved by keeping a ha rd copy of the DJI user manual with the ground crew.

14 C.F.R. §91.109(a) - Flight inst ruction; Simulated instrument flight and certain flight tests Sections 91.109(a) provides tha t no person may operate a civil aircraft that is being used for flight instruction unl ess that aircraft has fully func tioning dual controls. The UAS in this exemption are remotely p iloted aircraft, and, by design , not equipped with fully functional dual controls. Flight control is accomplished throug h the use of a control box

that communicates with the ai rcraft via radio communications. U tilizing a pilot skilled in remote piloting will provide an equivalent level of safety.Exemption Request Under Section 333
November 20, 2015

Page 7 14 C.F.R. §91.119 - Minimum safe altitudes: General. The regulation provides that ove r sparsely populated areas the aircraft cannot be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, o r structure. Since the UAS in this exemption will be oper ating at a maximum of 200 fee t AGL, this requirement cannot be followed. To provide an equivalent level of safety PC I will only fly over private property with the permission of t he land owner. The land owner will be briefed of the expected route of flight and the associated risks to persons an d property on the ground.

We maintain that due to the sma ll size of the UAS, the hazard t o persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures is not comparable to manned aircraft a nd should be considered in granting the exemption. Furt hermore, PCI will not operate ov er congested areas nor over any open air assembly of persons.

14 C.F.R. §91.121 - Al timeter settings. The regulation states that aircr aft shall maintain cruising alt itudes by reference to an altimeter setting available wi thin 100 nautical miles of the ai rcraft. The UAS will fly below

200 feet AGL and will not need to m aintain hemispherical cruisi ng altitudes in order to

de-conflict with other aircraft. To provide an equivalent level of safety, the autopilot

calculates the reference altit ude (ground level) with the on-bo ard GPS during the preflight tests. The GPS and baromet er data are then used to calcu late the altitude in-flight.

14 C.F.R. §91.151(a) - Fuel require ments for flight in VFR cond itions. The regulation states that no per son may begin a flight in an a irplane under day-VFR conditions unless there is enoug h fuel to fly to the first poin t of intended landing and to fly after that for at least 30 minutes.

As the aircraft in this request are electric-powered, this requ irement is inapplicable. An equivalent level of safety is ach ieved through a low battery po wer warning. The DJI UAS are designed to automatical ly return to base and land safel y when the power is too

low.

14 C.F.R. Subpart E (§91.401 - §91. 417) - Maintenance, Preventi ve Maintenance,

and Alterations The regulation provides that t he operator is pr imarily responsi ble for maintaining the aircraft in an airworthy conditi on, including compliance with p art 39 and 43. Paragraphs 91.407 and 91.409 require that the aircraft be "approved for re turn to service by a person authorized under 43.7" afte r maintenance and inspection.

PCI plans to have the PIC perfo rm maintenance and inspection of the aircraft and "be authorized to approve the aircraf t for return to service." The PIC will ensure that the aircraft is in an airworthy c ondition prior to flight and condu ct detailed inspections after every 10 flight hours. Additio nally, checklists will be utilize d with all of the necessary pre-flight procedures prior to e very flight operation. The PIC will document work performed in accordance with 91. 417. We feel that due to the si ze, construction, and simplicity of the aircraft, the PIC can ensure an equivalent le vel of safety.