Functional Fitness

(585) 478-3063

Dear Brittany Newton, Thank you for processing our exemption request. W e are appreciative of your concern in the impact of our use of unmanned air vehicles and it's impact on the general public. The use in terms of filming athletes and fitness enthusiasts, is someth ing original and new to the field, and we can

understand the confusion on how that would be in th e public interest. I assure you this new use of UAV,s will benefit our clients as well as the publi c as a whole.

The ability to film athletes, from a variety of an gles is undeniably the best way to find weaknesses in their form and performance. By showing these we aknesses via a video feedback, athletes are better able to improve. Many athletes are visual and kines tetic learners, requiring the proper visual feedbac k

in order to have them understand errors and correct them. One current tool used in the field is dart fish (http://www.dartfish.com/). The limitation in our field is the ability to capture overhead footage, w hich can only be gained via an aerial vehicle.

In the high level athletes we work with, We are co nsistently asked to share our footage with younger athletes, via their coaches, trainers, etc. , so they can see the form of professionals, and wo rk to improve their own. Through programs like DartFish, social media, and our website, We will be able to publish these demonstrations of proper form to help aspiring athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Not on ly on the individual level but through our connections at the high school level and connections with elite/olympic development programs. As you can see in this instance the general public being young athletes, will benefit from our findings and publis hing.

When working with runners there have been many co mpanies who film form from above while running on a treadmill, or in small indoor sp aces. This is not the same as running outdoors and form varies. This practice has little value for lo ng distance runners who's form changes drasticly wi th fatigue. The public (aspiring athletes) as well, w ants to see how these athletes run in form on the r oad and trail and this view can only be captured and sh ared with the use of a UAV and our media platforms.

Not only will this filming be more effective and s hareable, it will also be safer than trying to capture the footage with a traditional aerial vehic le. The ability for example to film a professional rock climber with a UAV will be much safer than attempti ng to hang from a rope in that location and move a round them during a climb. We would never position ourselves above a climber while filming for safety, however from high above a UAV, with altimit er limits, could safely capture this very important view, for aspiring climbers to see proper arm movem ent without the trunk and legs in the way of the

view.

Overall we believe our ability to film with UAV's will result in improved education for the public in sports and recreation as well as increased safet y for both the athlete and photographers. We hope you now share the enthusiasm as we have explained t he impact and grant us exemption from the restrictions keeping us from benefiting our athlete s and the general public of athletes pursuing perso nal improvement, while maintaining safe operating proce dures.

Thank you for your further review, Sincerely,

Michael Cocquyt

Functional Fitness