Petition for Exemption

April 16 , 2013 Administrator, FAA J ames H. Williams, FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Executive Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office, AFS

- 80 490 L ’Enfant Plaza, SW Suite 3200 Washington, DC 20024
Dear Sir, In accordance with F AA regulations, Part 11 of Title 14 CFR, the following request for exemption is submitted: **Petitioner s**  **:** Mike Wilson , UAS Program Manager, Southern Region 1701 Columbia Ave. College Park, GA 30337

- 2748 Tel: 404.305.6038 Fax: 404.305.6043 Email: Mike.Wilson@faa.gov Skip Wiegand , UAS Program Manager, Eastern Region 2 International Plaza, Suite 1 10 Philadelphia, PA 19113 Tel: 610.595.1500 X232 Fax: 610.595.1519 Email: Skip.W iegand@faa.gov Brad Howard , UAS Program Manager, Western

- Pacific Region 15000 Aviation BlvdLawndale, CA 90261

Tel: 310.725.7266 Fax: 310.725.6957 Email: Brad.Howard@faa.gov
The petitioners hereb y formally submi t this petition for exemption from FAR §91.151 , Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions . This petition is on behalf of the affected parties and to obtain regulatory

relief for that unique subset of unmanned aircraft s ys tem (UAS) operato rs who operate small UAS (sUAS) and are unable to comply with this rule due to their limited endurance

. After completing an anal ys is of existing regulations, the petitioners have determined that many s mall UAS cannot comply with the requirements o f FAR§91.151, Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions due to weight, performance, fuel ty pe, or capability

associ ated with their diminutive size

. **B ackground**  : There is no dispute that UAS are considered ‘aircraft’ per the 14 CFR Part 1 definition since 2007 [Docket No. FAA

- 2006

- 25714; Notice No. 07

- 01]. (Note: Both an airplane and rotorcraft are subsets of ‘ aircraft ’ .) Therefore , it follows that 14 CFR §91.15 1 , Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions , is a r ule that applies to all aircraft (civil and public) due to the absence of qualifying word s such as ‘civil’ or ‘public’ from both phrases in 14 CFR §91.151 (a) and (b)

. For the purposes of this discussion , the term ‘fuel’ can mean either traditional aviation fuels such as Avgas or Jet A, or electric power stored in a battery , or it can mean any other fueled

-propulsion sy stem. Fuel carriage capability in an aircraft represent s a total or portion of maximum quantity or , for battery or alternate fuel carriage, the 100% charge (or electrical maximum quantity) to 0% ( or total exhaustion)

. Many s UAS have a total fuel burn time duration that is less than that required in the rul e which requires enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and in addition , either 30/45 minutes day

/night for airplanes and 20 minutes for rotorcraft. These aircraft operators may be in unable to comply

with this rule as soon as the ir sUAS is launched. Other s UAS may be capable of meeting the rule requirements but maintaining a fuel reserve that complies with the rule would degrade the mis sion capability enough that mission integrity would be compromised and not cost effective for the proponent

.

W ith **emphasis** adde d , the rule states : (a) No person may

begin a flight in an airplane under VFR conditions unless (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) there i s enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed

—(1) During the day , to fly after that for at least **30 minutes** ; or

(2) At night, to fl y after that for at least **45 minutes**

. (b) No person may

begin a flight in a rotorcraft under VFR conditions unless (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed, to fly after that for at least **20 minutes.** Since there i s no apparent regulatory flexibility

built into this language through authorization by the Administrator , a request for a deviation is not an available remedy. As this rule is not listed in 14CFR §91.905, List of rules subject to waivers , a request for a waiver is not applicable. Therefore, an exemption is the only regulatory

flexibility

available. Since it is possible that the need for this relief will be for a period of time longer than originall y envisioned (po ssibly as much as two years) due to delays in the rulemaking process , an exemption would be appropriate

. As the sUAS rulemaking is f inalized after the comment period , language could be crafted in the rule itself to create a permanent solution for this small but unique group of sUAS . It is possible the Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) may be working on this issue , with their work on what is commonly

referred to as ‘The Small Rule’ or SFAR 107, Small Unmanned Aircraft S ys tems. The Petitioners recommend that l anguage be crafted in the Applicability section as is CFR Part 103, Ultralight Vehicles , where the specific criteria are given that determine what constitutes an Ultralight Vehicle.) However, a more immediate solution is needed for s UAS operators who are operating in the National Airspace System (NAS) every day of the week

. Therefore, Petitioners are only requesting relief for those s UAS that do not have the weight, capacity , or performance capability that this rule requires. As an example, a electric

-powered s UAS with a 20 minute flight cap ability operating on it s battery would be exempted from the rule requirement of thirty minutes reserve operating in the daytime hours as many of these ty

pe of smaller UAS hav e been incapable of maintaining more than 30 minutes of flight time at all, let alone an additional 30 minutes of reserve

. A large UAS, such as a Predator, in contrast , would be required to comply

with the rule since it can fly for extended hours before it would be encroaching on its fuel reserve.

**Extent of relief** The petitioners re quest that those s UAS th at are unable to comply with the provisions of CFR §91.15 1 be allowed to adhere to a fuel reserve requirement more suitable to the ty pe of operation an d size of the aircraft and its c apabilities due to the immediate ability of the sUAS operator to land or recover the aircraft under power and the continued visual sighting of the aircraft b y the pilot or an observer should an emergency occur . Suggested mitigations for these operations are:- VMC conditions (Class E airspace visibility requirements, but not less than 3 SM flight visibility and 1000’ ceiling) and operations under VFR flight rules

.

- Untethered UAS only

.

- Visual l ine of sight (V LOS) operations onl y.

- Due to the sUAS small size up to one mile from the operator /observer

. (No daisy chaining.)

- Clas s G airspace as high as 1200 feet AGL.

- A reduction in time of fuel reserve to 10% of their total operational time. As an example: If the tota l endurance of the onboard fuel system for the untethered UAS is less than or equal to the reserve requirements listed in §91.151 (a) (1) or (2) for airplanes or (b) for rotorcraft then a VFR fuel reserve equal to 10% of the total endurance will be required. For example, an electric

- powered UAS airplane has a maximum endurance of 20 minutes on its batteries

- it must have a reserve of 2 minutes at normal cruising speed upon reaching the first point of intended landing

.

**Public Interest.** Allowing for this exemption is in the public interest in that it would provide s UAS that are fl ying today the ability

to achieve a realistic level of fuel reserve that ensures safe operation without severel y limiting performance or miss ion capability . Today , many sUAS cannot c omply with the regulation outright and cannot and do not maintain a realistic and quantifiable fuel reserve. Adhering to a fuel reserve requirement that is realistic for the platform enhances safety and continues to allow this new technology to grow and mature.
**Equivalent level of Safety**

. Providing this exemption creates an additional level of safety. Today , either no fuel reserves are being maintained b y operators or they are operating their aircraft with simply the balance of their operational fuel requirement left from their total time capability. 14CFR §91.151 was craft ed in a time where UAS operations did not exist in the NAS. Today , UAS are operate d safel y throughout the NAS on a daily basis and growing in number as a result of the Congressional requirement to integrate UAS into the NAS by 2015 . Until §91.151 is updated to accommodate this new technology , granting this exemption will allow sUAS operations to continue within the boundaries of the CFR requirements and will permit thistechnology to mature and develop with a level of safety that is not compromised by size

. Granting this exemption will provide a realistic an d, more importantly , a quantifiable fuel reserve. **Summary for the Federal Register .**  Th e petitioners formall y submit a request for relief and exemption from CFR §91.151, Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions as a broad exemption for all small unmanned aircraft system ( s UAS) operators that, due to their aircraft’s physical size, are unable to comply with the rule. **Conclusion** Petitioners request that the FAA expedit e handing of this petition so all affected parties and operators of s UAS can continue to fly their aircraft and compl y with the CF R’s without unknowingl y or inadvertently violating a regulatory requirement

. Pleas e do not hesitate to cont act any of the petitioners if you have any question s or require additional information.
Respectfully

submitted, Mike Wilson Skip Wiegand Brad Howard