Hudson Benson October 20, 2015

88 Green Meadow Dr.

Elkton, MD 21921

Cell (443) 945 0920

Email: hudson@cattailcompany.com

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 of 2012

Attachment downloads (links included on page 6): 

1) Phantom 2 Vision+ User Manual

2) Phantom 2 Vision Plus (Quick Start Guide)

3) Phantom pilot training guide

4) Phantom 3 Manual

5) Phantom 3 (Quick Start Guide)

References:

1) FAA Exemption No. 11138, Regulatory Docket No. FAA20140481 in the matter of the 

petition of DOUGLAS TRUDEAU

2) FAA Exemption No. 11136, Regulatory Docket No. FAA–2014–0508 in the matter of 

the petition of ADVANCED AVIATION SOLUTIONS LLC

3) FAA Exemption No. 11080 Regulatory Docket No. FAA20140355 in the matter of the 

petition of FLYING CAM INC

Dear Sir or Madam,

In accordance with the FAA’s Guidelines for Submitting a Petition for Exemption under 

section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, I, Hudson Benson,

referred to hereafter as the petitioner, request exemption from the following sections of

Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations:

61.113(a); 61.113(b); 91.119(c); 91.121; 91.151(a); 91.405(a); 91.407(a)(1); 91.409

(a)(1); 91.409(a)(2); 91.417(a) & (b);

The purpose of this request is to operate small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) 

commercially in airspace regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to 

perform aerial photography, cinematography, videography, mapping, crop surveying, 

inspections and other flight operations that could be performed safely and more cost 

effectively with the use of small UAS at low altitude within the U.S. national airspace 

system as compared to a manned aircraft. The conditions identified and proposed by 

the petitioner are drawn from references 1-3.
Regarding the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) or Unmanned Aircraft (UA)

1. Risk Mitigation

The UA that the petitioner intends to operate under this exemption are state-of-the-art 

commercially available aircraft which have been produced in significant volumes and 

piloted by thousands of hobbyists and professional photographers. They include many 

safety oriented systems such as GPS mapping of restricted airspace and automated 

return to home technology which minimizes uncontrolled flight should a ground control 

mishap occur. Petitioner intends to operate this type of aircraft as opposed to 

“experimental aircraft”, or aircraft designed and built by an entity without a proven track 

record in UAS design and production.

2. Safe Flight Procedures

The petitioner has reviewed FAA exemptions reference’s 1-3 Conditions and Limitations 

section and believes that the procedures specified therein are reasonable and will be 

utilized in order to manage and mitigate risk and ensure public safety. A preflight 

checklist has been developed and employed to ensure that the UA airworthiness will be 

verified before each launch. Routine inspections, such as those used prior to manned 

flights, will be completed and maintenance logs will be used to ensure time-sensitive 

components are repaired or replaced prior to failure. These inspections will include but 

are not limited to propeller condition and battery life.

The petitioner requests to be allowed to operate within 5 miles of an airport provided 

that;

“The UA may not operate in Class B, C, or D airspace without written approval from the 

FAA. The UA may not operate within 5 nautical miles of the geographic center of a nontowered airport as denoted on a current FAA published aeronautical chart unless a 

letter of agreement with that airport’s management is obtained, and the operation is 

conducted in accordance with a NOTAM as required by the operator’s COA. The letter 

of agreement with the airport management must be made available to the Administrator 

upon request.”

Operations within 5 miles of an airport will not occur by petitioner unless an agreement 

with that airport’s management is obtained and kept on record. Operations within class 

B airspace are not requested due to the lack of mode C transponder.

Petitioner’s intended operations do not require operating the UA at an altitude of greater 

than 400 feet above ground level and petitioner will not operate aircraft at an altitude of 

greater than 400 feet AGL or in the vicinity of clouds.

A visual observer will be utilized. Liability insurance will be obtained commensurate with 

the granting of this request for exemption. Flight data including UA flight time, Control 

Unit operation time, incident, accident, and details concerning any deviations from 

normal operations will be available to FAA for use in collecting data regarding the use of 
UAS as part of this application. This data may be submitted to FAA via traditional 

means, e.g. COA Monthly Reports, or other means as required.

3. Radio Frequency Spectrum

Phantom 2 Vision+ remote control operates at 5.728 GHz -5.85 GHz. The camera wi-fi 

range extender operates at 2412-2462MHz. The Phantom 3 remote control operates at 

2.400 GHz-2.483 GHz. All radio equipment is FCC compliant.

Regarding the Unmanned Aircraft Pilot in Command (PIC)

The PIC will hold at minimum a sport pilot license and have corrected vision sufficient to 

obtain a U.S. driver’s license or a current FAA airman medical certificate. Operator will 

also require PIC to have a minimum of 4 hours flight experience with the particular or 

similar UAS in a remote area prior to commercial operation and be required to have 

performed 3 takeoffs and landings in the past 30 days with the particular or a similar 

UAS. (see attached Phantom pilot training guide) 

Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs)

The petitioner seeks exemption from the above mentioned FARs for the following

reasons;

61.113(a) & (b); The petitioner requests relief in order to facilitate the utilization of pilots, 

who hold a PRIVATE PILOT (or greater) certificate. Any pilots operating under this 

exemption would be required to comply with any conditions as set forth and in a similar 

fashion to previously granted exemptions.

91.119(c) As discussed in Exemption 11138 (DOUGLAS TRUDEAU), operations 

conducted closer than 500 feet to the ground may require that the UA be operated 

closer than 500 feet to essential persons, or objects that would not be possible without 

additional relief. The petitioner requests modification, waiver or exemption and 

clarification concerning the terms “congested areas” and “densely populated”. The 

petitioner requests waiver for this condition to allow reasonable and responsible 

operations in areas of subdivisions and neighborhoods, if required.

91.121 As discussed in Exemption 11138 (DOUGLAS TRUDEAU), FAR 91.121 is 

inapplicable since the UAS does not have an altimeter and instead utilizes electronic 

GPS with a barometric sensor for altitude information.

91.151(a) As discussed in Exemption 11136 (ADVANCED AVIATION

SOLUTIONS LLC) prior relief has been granted for manned aircraft to operate at less 

than the prescribed minimums, including Exemption Nos. 2689, 5745, and 10650. In 

addition, similar UA relief has been granted in Exemption Nos. 8811, 10808, and 10673 

for daytime, VFR conditions. The UAS provides the PIC information regarding percent 
of battery power remaining. The UA batteries provide approximately 23-25 minutes of 

powered flight. Information provided in the operating documents includes procedures 

regarding remaining battery power management and landing procedures when battery 

remaining reaches a specified level. Given the limitations on proposed operations and

the location of those proposed operations, the FAA found that a reduced minimum 

power reserve for flight in daytime VFR conditions was reasonable.

91.405(a); 91.407(a)(1); 91.409 (a)(1) & (2); 91.417(a) & (b) As discussed in

Exemption 11138 (DOUGLAS TRUDEAU), the petitioner proposes to inspect and 

ensure that the UAS is in a condition for safe flight in accordance with the operating 

documents. The FAA found that adherence to the petitioner’s operating documents and 

the conditions and limitations specified, describing the requirements for maintenance, 

inspection, and recordkeeping, were sufficient to ensure that safety would not be 

adversely affected.

Regarding the Operation of the Unmanned Aircraft System

The DJI Phantom 2 vision plus and Phantom 3 are factory designed small rotorcraft in 

the quadcopter configuration. The maximum weight of these aircraft is 1280g, 

maximum ascent speed is 5 m/s, and maximum speed is 16 m/s. Both models utilize an 

internal inertial measuring unit (IMU) with integrated barometric sensor augmented with 

global positioning system (GPS) to maintain their geospatial orientation and position. 

The Phantom 3 also utilizes visual and ultrasonic sensors to maintain position where 

GPS is unavailable. The PIC controls them through an FCC certified radio control (RC) 

unit at frequencies mentioned earlier. Real time video and telemetry information is 

transmitted back to a ground control station allowing the operator and/or PIC to monitor 

battery level, GPS signal strength, altitude (AGL), distance from PIC, camera imagery, 

and control camera angle. As discussed earlier, it has failsafe modes of operation for 

either loss of RC or GPS signal. Altitude can be limited by the onboard flight controller 

and maximum altitude can be preprogrammed by the PIC. Battery life limits flight times 

to approximately 25 minutes for the Phantom 2 vision+ and 23 minutes for the Phantom 

3. A programmable alarm with a default of approximately 25% battery life provides an 

obvious warning to the PIC to return to home and land. An automatic termination of 

flight and landing will be initiated when the battery reaches a predetermined low state.

Public interest

Use of UAS in lieu of a manned aircraft would enhance safety and reduce the 

environmental impact as compared to similar operations conducted with manned aircraft 

of greater proportions, carrying a crew and flammable fuel. Additionally, use of the UAS 

in order to facilitate commerce will lead to economic growth. Operations for this petition 

will enable service for property owners or their designees seeking an enhanced 

perspective for characteristics, amenities, and benefits of their desired photographic 

subjects that cannot be displayed through ground level videography/photography. 

Aerial photography is a valuable marketing tool that can lead to increased commerce 

and enhance personal photography. Petitioner is located in a rural area of Maryland, 

where agricultural surveying applications could lead to decreased use of pesticides and 
fertilizer, increased strategies to conserve water and reduce run-off, increased crop 

yields and decreased farm management costs. Aerial surveying and inspections can 

increase work site efficiency, improve volumetric estimations and reduce risks. The 

petitioner will provide clients with photographic data for these purposes on a ‘for hire’ 

basis acting as an independent contractor.

Conclusion

The petitioner is requesting this exemption for the purposes of “aerial photography, 

cinematography, videography, mapping, crop surveying, watershed surveying, 

inspections and other flight operations”. The reason for such a general and broad based 

request is that the petitioner operates several business entities whose operations 

include graphic design, web development, real estate, and education. The petitioner

wishes to offer ad hoc small UAS services to individuals or companies who wish to 

employ these services as a safe, effective, and legal option to enhance their business, 

sell their property, or collect data.

The petitioner has held a private pilot certificate since 1983 and is familiar with the 

checklists, maintenance manuals and maintenance routines utilized in manned aircraft 

operations.

Yours truly,

Hudson Benson
Attachments can be downloaded as follows:

Phantom pilot training guide

http://download.djiinnovations.com/downloads/phantom_2_vision_plus/en/Phantom_2_Vision_Plus_Pilot_Training_Guide_v1.1_en.pdf

Phantom 2 Vision+ user manual

http://download.djiinnovations.com/downloads/phantom_2_vision_plus/en/Phantom_2_Vision_Plus_User_Manual_v1.8_en.pdf

Phantom 2 Vision+ quick start guide

http://download.djiinnovations.com/downloads/phantom_2_vision_plus/en/Phantom_2_Vision_Plus_Quick_Start_Guide_en.pdf

Phantom 3 Professional user manual

http://download.djiinnovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_User_Manual_v1.4_en_0915.pdf

Phantom 3 Professional quick start guide

http://download.djiinnovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_Quick_Start_Guide_en_v1.2.pdf