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 V ision+ User Manual 2) Phantom 2 Vision P lus (Quick Start Guide) 3) Phantom pi lot training guide

4 ) Phantom 3 Manual

5 ) Phantom 3 (Quick Star t 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, cinematogra phy, 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

utiliz ed 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 flight s, 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 request s 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 non

towered 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 . Operati ons 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
great er 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 deviati ons from normal operations will be available to FAA for use in collecting data regarding the use ofUAS 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 F requency 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 Phanto m 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 re lief in order to facilitate the utilization of pilots,

who h old a PRIVATE PILOT (or g reater) certificate. Any pilots operating under this exemption would be required to co mply with any conditions as set forth an d in a similar

fashion to previously granted exemptions.

91.119(c) As discussed in Exe mption 11138 (DOUG LAS TRUDEAU), operations conducted closer than 500 feet to the gr ound may require that the UA be operated closer than 500 feet to essential persons, or obj ects that would not be possible without additional relief. The petitioner requests modifi cation, waiver or exemption and clarification concerning the terms “congested areas” and “densely populated” . The petitioner requests waiver for this condition to a llow reasonable and responsible operations in areas of subdivisions and neighborhoods

, if re quired.

91.121 As discussed in Exemp tion 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 Exempti on 11136 (ADVANCED AVIATION SOLUTIONS LLC) prior relief has been granted for man ned aircraft to operate at less than the prescribed minimums, including Exemption Nos. 2689, 57 45, and 10650. In addition, similar UA relief has been granted in Exemption Nos. 8811, 10808, and 10673 for daytime, VFR conditions. The UAS prov ides the PIC information regarding percentof battery power remaining . The UA batteries provide approximately 2 3

- 25 minutes of

powered flight. Information provided in the operating documents includes procedures regarding remaining battery power management and landing procedure s when battery remaining reaches a sp ecified level. Given the limitations on proposed operations and the location of those proposed operations, t he FAA found that a reduc ed minimum

powe r 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), t he pet itioner proposes to inspect and

ensure that the UAS is in a condition for safe flight i n accordance with the operating documents. The FAA found that adherence to the petitioner’s op erating documents and the conditions and limitations specified, describing th e requirements for maintenance, inspection, and recordk eeping, 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 s ensor augmented with global positioning system (GPS) to mainta in 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 con trol (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 s ignal strength, altitude (AGL), distance from PIC, camera imagery,

and control camera angle. As discu ssed earlier, it has failsafe modes of operation for either loss of RC or GPS signal. Altitude c an be limited by the onboard flight controller and maximum altitude can be preprog rammed by the PIC. Battery life limits flight times to approximately 25 minut es 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 b e initi ated 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 p roportions, 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

perspec tive 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 u se of pesticides andfertilizer, 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 a cting 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

w ishes 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 certific ate since 1983 and is familiar with the checklists, maintenance manuals and maintenance routines utilized in manned aircraft operations.

Yours truly

,

Hudson BensonAttachments can be downloaded as follows:

Phantom pilot training guide

http://download.dji

innovations.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.dji

innovations.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.dji

innovations.com/downloads/phantom_2_vision_plus/en/Phantom_2_Vision_Plus_Quick_Start_Guide_en.pdf

Phantom 3 Professional user manual

http://download.dji

innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_User_Manual_v1.4_en_0915.pdf

Phantom 3 Professional quick start guide

http://download.dji

innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_Quick_Start_Guide_en_v1.2.pdf