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

Request	for	Section	333	Exemption

March 1,	2016

Revision	1

Contact	Information

Matthew	N.	Brown 7750	Upper	171 st St.	West Lakeville,	MN	55044 Brown.Matthew001@gmail. com 952.905.1277

Regulations	from	with	the	exemption	is	requested:

14	CFR	Part	21 14	CFR	45.23(b) 14	CFR	61.113	(a)	&	(b) 14	CFR	91.7	(a) 14	CFR	91.9	(b)(2)

14	CFR	91.109

14	CFR	91.119

14	CFR	91.121 14	CFR	91.151	(a) 14	CFR	91.203	(a)	&	(b)

14	CFR	91.4 05	(a) 14	CFR	91.407	(a)(1) 14	CFR	91.409	(a)(2) 14	CFR	91.417	(a)&(b)

This	is	an	exemption	request	pursuant	to Section	333	of	the	FAA	Reform	Act	of	2012

for	Matthew	Brown.		Matthew	Brown ,	operator	of	Unmanned	Aircraft	Systems (UAS) requests	to	commercial ly	perform	aerial	photography	through	the	use	a	self

owned	small UAS in	airspace	regulated	by	the	FAA.		Matthew	Brown	is	the	owner and	pilot. Matthew	would	provide	operations	of	UAS	equipped	with	camera(s)	and sensors	in	the	following	areas:

1. Aerial	photog raphy	and/or	video	for	public	and/or	private	use	in cluding	real estate,	architecture,	land	surveying	or	other	related	professional	activities.

2. Aerial	photography/inspection	or	residential	or	commercial	structures	with the	owners	or	local	government	autho rity.3. Aerial	photography/inspection	of	residential/commercial	utility

inf rastructure	including	but	not	limited	to	electrical	power	lines,	wind

turbines	and	cell	towers.

4. Aerial	photography/video	providing	live	video	feed	to	aid	in	search	and

rescue	operat ions	in	the	event	of	natural	disaster	or	emergency	only	when requested	by	local	government	authorities.

5. Training	to	persons/	groups	belonging	to	private/public	organizations	to increase	awareness	and	improve	safety	for	current	and	future	UAS operations	wit hin	the	NAS	system.

Matthew	currently	holds	an	Airline	Transport	Pilot	Certificate #3031668 and	is	a Certified	Flight	Instructor Instrument	Airplane with	a	Bachelor	of	Science	in Aeronautics.		Matthew	Brown	currently	is	an	airline	pilot	and	has	first	han d knowledge	of	the	FAA	airspace	system	allowing him	to	safely	operate	a	small	UAS

within	the airspace.

14	CFR	Part	21 Subpart	H An	Exemption	is	requested	from	applying	for	an	airworthiness	certificate.		Given	the size	and	limited	operating	area	of	the	a ircraft	to	be	used,	an	exemption	meets	the requirements	of	an equivalent level	of	safety.		The	UAS	will	be	operating	in	an	area

and	under	conditions	that	would	be	at	least	as	safe	as	a	conventional	aircraft operating with	an	airworthiness	certificate.

14 CFR	45.23(b ) Display	of	Marks An	exemption	is	requested	from	displaying	the	aircraft	“N”	number	on	the	aircraft. Also	requested	is	an	exemption	from	displaying	the	words	“limited”,	“experimental”, “light

- sport”	or	“provisional”	as	applicable.		There	is	no entrance	into	a	UAS	and	the aircraft	is	not	large	enough	to	support	decals	of	2	inches.

14	CFR	61.113	(a)	&	(b)

– Private	Pilot An	exemption	is	requested	from	holding	a	Private	Pilot	certificate	and	the requirements	for	compensation	or	hire.		An	equiva lent	level	of	safety	is	met	due	to UAS	not	carrying	passengers	or	pilots.		The	risk	is	far	less	than	that	of	commercial activities	of	a	private	or	commercial	pilot

.

14	CFR	91.7	(a)

– Civil	Aircraft	Airworthiness An	exemption	is	requested	due	to	the	fact	t hat	an	airworthiness	certificate	will	not

be	issued.

14	CFR	91.9	(b)(2 )

– Civil	Aircraft	Flight	Manual,	Marking	and	Placard Requirements AN	exemption	is	requested	from	carrying	a	current	and	approved	Flight	Manual, markings	and	placards.		The	UAS	is	not	l arge	enough	to	carry	any	of	these	items.		An equivalent	level	of	safety	will	be	maintained	by	keeping	the	flight	manual	at	the launch	site	where	the	pilot	will	have	access	to	it.14	CFR	91.109

– Flight	Instruction An	exemption	is	requested	from	operating a	civil	aircraft	for	flight	instruction	unless that	aircraft	has	dual	controls.		The	UAS	is	remotely	piloted	and	control	is established	through	a	transmitter.			Because	there	is	no	one	the	aircraft	and	the

instructor	is	able	to	handle	the	controls	at	the	s ame	time	as	the	pilot,	an	equivalent level	of	safety	is	achieved.

14	CFR	91.119

– Minimum	Safe	Altitude An	exemption	is	requested	from	operating	over	sparsely	populated	areas	closer than	500	feet	AGL.		An	exemption	is	requested	to	operate	up	to	400	feet	A GL.		Given the	size,	controllability,	and	weight	of	the	UAS,	an	equivalent	level	of	safety	will	be met.		UAS	flights	will	not	be	conducted	over	any	property	without	the	permission	of

the	owner.

14	CFR	91.121

– Altimeter	Setting An	exemption	is	requested from	operating	by	reference	to	an	altimeter	set	to	the departure	elevation.		An	equivalent	level	of	safety	is	met	by	using	an	Above	Ground Level	measurement	that	is	displayed	on	the	aircraft	transmitter	held	by	the operating	pilot.

14	CFR	91.151	(a)

– F uel	Requirements	for	VFR	Conditions An	exemption	is	requested	from	the	requirement	to	operate	an	aircraft	with	30 minutes	of	fuel	reserve.		The	battery	power	of	the	UAS	is	approximately	20

- 25 minutes.		An	equivalent	level	of	safety	is	met	by	the	transmitte r	display.		A	digital readout	of	the	battery	percentage	is	available.		Additionally	the	aircraft	LED	lights flash	and	an	audible	alarm	is	sounded	when	the	aircraft	battery	is	low.		If	the	aircraft is	not	brought	to	a	landing	the	aircraft	employs	a	safety	f eature	of	return	to	home. The	max	flight	for	a	UAS	will	be	limited	to	maintain	reserves	of	not	less	than	25% battery	power.

14	CFR	91.203	(a)	&	(b )

– Civil	Aircraft:	Certifications An	exemption	is	requested	from	carrying	an	airworthiness	certificate	that is displayed	and	legible.		The	UAS	is	not	large	enough	to	carry	additional	items.		An equivalent	level	of	safety	will	be	met	by	storing	any	registration	documents	at	the aircraft	launch	point	with	the	pilot.

14	CFR	91.405	(a)

, 14	CFR	91.407	(a)(1) ,	14 CFR	91.409	(a)(2),	1 4	CFR	91.417 (a)&(b )

– Maintenance	Inspections An	exemption	is	requested	from	having	the	UAS	inspected	as	prescribed	in	Subpart E.		These	inspections	only	apply	to	aircraft	carrying	an	airworthiness	certificate.

Maintenance	will	be	don e	according	to	the	UAS	manual,	manufacturer

recommendations .		F irmware	upgrades will	be	done	as	they	are	made	available.		In

order	to	ensure	an equivalent level	of	safet y,	the	pilot	will	inspect	(pref light)	the UAS	prior	to	each	flight.Description	of	the	UAS	and	Equivalent	Level	of	Safety : The	primary	UAS	to	be	used	will	be	the	DJI	Phantom	3 Professional .		The	UAS	will	be safely	operated	in	the	National	A irspace	System	by	maintaining	100%	line	of	sight visual	contact.		The	aircraft	will	be	flown	only	during	d aylight	operations	at	altitudes

not	to	exceed 400	feet	above	the	ground.		Flights	will	be	operated	at	a	lateral

distance	no	less	than	100	feet	from	an y	persons	or	property	not	associated	with	the operation.

The	DJI	Phantom	3	includes	additional	safety	features	to	include	a	GPS	“return

home”	function	when	GPS	is	available.		The	UAV also	includes failsafe	technology returning	the UAS	to	the	takeoff	poi nt	if batteries	run	low. The	UAS	will	always	be operated	in	accordance	with	the	manufacturers	operation	manual.

Public	Interest: Matthew	Brown	will	be	using	UAS	in	applications	that	were	unable	to	be	completed previously	or	where	full	sized	aircraft	w ould	be	required.		It	is	in	the	public’s interest	as	the	use	of	UAS	to	conduct	these	operations	will	eliminate	the	use	of	low flying	full	size	aircraft	maximizing	safety.			This	exemption	will	allow	Matthew Brown	to	provide	the	highest	level	of	safe	operat ions.

UAS Operations:

The	owner	“Matthew	Brown”	will	conduct	thorough	preflight	operations	of	the	UAS prior	to	every	flight.		All	firmware	will	be	verified	as	up	to	date	prior	to	each	flight. Weather	considerations	will	always	be	verified	before	each flight	to	ensure	the highest	level	of	safety

Specifications	include: Weight:	1280g

Size:	590	mm Max	Ascent	Speed:	5	m/s Max	Descent	Speed:	5	m/s Max	Speed	16m/s

Conclusion:

Matthew	Brown	will	be operating	a	small	UAS	to	complement	his	self

- owned photog raphy	business.

Thank	you,

Matthew	N.	Brown Owner/	Pilot