4/14/15

U.S. Department of Transportation

Docket Management System

1200 New Jersey Ave. SE

Washington, DC 20590

Exemption Request Section 333 of the FAA Reform Act

To Whom It May Concern,

In accordance with Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and 14 C.F.R. Part 

11, Montana Aerial Solutions, a licensed business in the State of Montana, hereby applies for exemptions 

from the following Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) in order to operate a Small Unmanned Aircraft 

System (sUAS) for commercial applications in airspace that is governed by the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA). All flight operations will be conducted under the conditions and boundaries 

outlined herein or as established by the FAA in accordance with Section 333. 

The exemptions, as requested by Montana Aerial Solutions, would permit the provision of commercial 

services to customers that are in need of aerial data capture from a sUAS. Montana Aerial Solutions 

requests these exemptions in order to perform commercial flights in the following areas:

 Surveying

 Agriculture

 Aerial Inspection

 Real Estate Photography

 General Photography

 Special Events

All flights will be conducted over private or controlled access property with the consent and knowledge of 

the property owner or controlling party. All flight operations will maintain a 500 foot buffer from all 

nonparticipating persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures unless sufficient barriers are in place to protect 

nonparticipating persons from undue harm. Flight operations will also only be operated near vessels, 

vehicles, and structures where the property owner/controller has granted permission and a safety 

assessment has been made. 

All of Montana Aerial Solutions’ flight operations will be conducted by pilots that are holding current 

FAA Private or Commercial Licenses with appropriate medical certificates. All visual observers (VO) 

will be trained to perform their required duties before flight operations begin. 
Regulations from which an exemption is requested:

14 CFR 61.113(a)

14 CFR 91.7(a)

14 CFR 91.119(c)

14 CFR 91.121

14 CFR 91.151(a)

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 – 91.417)

THE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM

Due to the low cost of operation, increased safety to surrounding persons and property, reduced noise and 

environmental impact, and the versatility of the sUAS platform, we believe that a sUAS can be a great 

solution to consumers who would, otherwise, have to hire a larger aircraft, such as a helicopter, in order to 

capture the data that they need. 

Montana Aerial Solutions is seeking this exemption in order to operate a 3DR IRIS+ quadcopter equipped 

with the 3DR Pixhawk controller board, a two-axis Tarot T-2D Brushless Gimbal and a GoPro camera. 

3DRobotic’s APM software will be the ground station operating system. Safety failsafe features

equipped ensuring safe operations include:

 Geo-fence capability that will limit the height and horizontal distance that the IRIS can fly from 

the operator. 

 RTL mode- In the case of low battery or lost communication between the IRIS and the operator, 

the IRIS will return to the point of takeoff and land itself. This mode can be manually turned on 

by the operator at any point in the flight. 

 Land mode- Loss of GPS signal will engage land mode. The IRIS will land automatically at its 

current position if in a flight mode that requires GPS signal.

 Telemetry radio communication provides real time feedback of flight data, including current 

altitude, attitude, altitude change rate, and GPS coordinates. 

Aforementioned safety features have undergone rigorous testing procedures by 3DRobotics as well as

Montana Aerial Solutions. Logs and descriptions of each safety test flight performed by Montana Aerial 

Solutions are available upon request. These safety features combined with the PIC’s knowledge obtained 

during flight training will successfully mitigate operation safety risks. Montana Aerial solutions is in 

development of future aircraft that will be using the Pixhawk controller, enabling use of aforementioned 

safety features in all future aircraft utilized by Montana Aerial Solutions. 

FLIGHT OPERATIONS

The operator and PIC will guarantee that operations adhere to strict standards as set below:

 Prior to their first operation, all PICs employed by Montana Aerial Solutions will complete a 

sUAS education and training program that highlights critical areas including applicable 

regulations and documents, charts, NOTAMS and Advisory Circulars, Radio Communications 

Procedures, Human Factors and Crew Resource Management, Basic Small UAS Aerodynamics, 

Weather Factors, Airmanship and Decision-making, and Safe Operating Procedures.

 The PIC must show that they are able to safely operate the UAS in a safe manner before 

proceeding with operations.

 The UA will be operated at airspeeds below 29 knots.

 The UA will be operated below 400 feet above ground level (AGL) at all times.

 The UA will be operated within visual line of sight (VLOS) at all times.
 All operations will utilize a visual observer (VO). The UA will be operated within the visual line 

of sight (VLOS) of the PIC and VO at all times. 

 The VO will not perform any other duties beyond assisting the PIC with seeing and avoiding 

traffic and other ground based obstacles.

 Proper preflight inspections will take place before each flight. 

 The UA may not operate within 5 nautical miles of an airport reference point unless a letter of 

agreement with that airport’s management is obtained.

 Operations will be conducted in accordance with a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM).

 The UA may not be operated less than 500 feet below or less than 2,000 feet horizontally from a 

cloud or when visibility is less than 3 statute miles from the PIC.

 The PIC must maintain a battery reserve that allows the UA to return to point of landing at 

normal cruise speed and land with 30% battery power. 

 The UA must remain clear of and yield to all other air traffic.

 Flight operations will remain 500 feet from all nonparticipating persons, vehicles, and structures 

unless:

a. Barriers or structures are present that sufficiently protect nonparticipating persons 

from debris in the event of an accident. 

b. All participating persons will be made aware of the dangers of flying a UA and the 

safety precautions and features that are in place. 

c. The aircraft is operated near vessel, vehicles, or structures where the property 

owner/controller has granted permission and the PIC has made a safety assessment in 

regard to the close operation to these objects.

d. Operations near the PIC or VO do not present an undue hazard to the PIC or VO per 

91.119(a).

 All operations will be conducted over private or controlled-access property with prior permission 

from the property owner/controller or authorized representative. 

Montana Aerial Solutions is confident that the knowledge of the PIC, along with the strict safety 

standards set by Montana Aerial Solutions, the FAA, and the physical safety properties of the sUAS, will 

allow safe and efficient operations. 

Montana Aerial Solutions hereby requests exemption under Section 333 in order to pursue commercial 

sUAV applications with the intent to provide customers with the safest, highest quality platform 

available.

Sincerely,

Jeff Weber Greg Koch

Montana Aerial Solutions

5813, Kit Lane South

Billings, Montana, 59106
EXEMPTION REQUESTS AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY

Montana Aerial Solutions requests an exemption from the following regulations as well as any additional 

regulations found by the FAA to be necessary for safe and efficient UAS flight operations. 

14 CFR 61.113(a), Private pilot privileges and limitations: Pilot in command

This regulation states that no person holding a private pilot certificate may act as pilot in command of an 

aircraft that is carrying passengers or property for compensation or hire; nor may that person, for 

compensation or hire, act as pilot in command of an aircraft. 

We believe that a PIC with a private pilot license has sufficient skill and knowledge to complete 

operations, especially after completing a sUAS knowledge and training course. We do not think that a 

commercial pilot license will significantly improve a PIC’s performance while operating a UAV. 

Therefore, we ask for an exemption from 14 CFR 61.113(a) in order to operate commercially with the 

minimum of a private pilot license. 

14 CFR 91.7(a) Civil aircraft airworthiness

As a UAS will not require an airworthiness certificate, we believe that this regulation is not applicable. 

Therefore, we request exemption from this regulation.

14 CFR 91.119(c) Minimum safe altitudes

This regulation states that no person may operate an aircraft below 500 feet above the surface as well as 

within 500 feet of any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. 

We believe that, because of the nature of most UAS operations, an exemption is required in order to allow

operation closer than 500 feet to vessels, vehicles, or structures as long as permission is granted from the 

owning/controlling parties and an assessment is made to assure that people and property are safe from 

undue harm. We also request that operations be allowed over congested areas as long as the operations 

stay within the following standards:

 Flight operations will remain 500 feet from all nonparticipating persons, vehicles, and structures 

unless:

a. Barriers or structures are present that sufficiently protect nonparticipating persons from 

debris in the event of an accident. 

b. Participating persons are made aware of the dangers of the UAS operation and the safety 

precautions that have been put into place.

c. The aircraft is operated near vessel, vehicles, or structures only where the property 

owner/controller has granted permission and the PIC has made a safety assessment in 

regard to the close operation to these objects.

d. Operations near the PIC or VO do not present an undue hazard to the PIC or VO per 

91.119(a).

e. All operations will be conducted over private or controlled-access property with prior 

permission from the property owner/controller or authorized representative.

14 CFR 91.121 Altimeter settings

As our UAS does not utilize a standard barometric altimeter, we request exemption from 91.121 to the 

extent necessary to comply with applicable conditions and limitations. The altimeter reading for our UAS 

is calculated by GPS. The accurate and continuous readings that we receive from this GPS system allow 

us to operate our drone below set minimums at all times. 
14 CFR 91.151(a) Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions

This regulation states that no person may begin a flight in an airplane under day-VFR conditions unless 

there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, after that, fly for an additional 30 

minutes. This regulation is intended to create a safe flying environment by creating sufficient fuel 

reserves. Therefore, we do not request an exemption from this regulation but, instead, request that the 

term “fuel” be changed to “battery power.” We also request that our battery power reserve for our UAS 

operations be 30%. 

Our UAS has capabilities that allow the PIC to monitor battery power levels as well as a return to land 

feature that will engage when battery levels reach a critical level, therefore returning the UAS 

automatically to the point of takeoff. 

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 – 91.417)

Montana Aerial Solutions requests an exemption from the stringent maintenance regulations that are 

designed to increase the safety of the flying environment by ensuring adequate inspections and servicing 

of aircraft. We are requesting exemption from these regulations because we believe that, due to the 

simplicity and the ease of repair, general and preventive maintenance can be performed by the PIC. The 

PIC is required to make a thorough preflight inspection before each operation. In the case of a discovery 

of faulty equipment, most replacement and repair can simply be done on site as long as repairs are of an 

airworthy manner. Major repair will still have to be performed by a licensed repair facility which will be 

logged in the UAS records. 

We believe that our comprehensive preflight inspection, the simplicity of the UAS itself, the nature of the 

UAS’s operations, and the fact that no passengers are on board the aircraft make our operations eligible 

for exemption from CFR Subpart E (91.401 – 91.417).