August 5th,2015

U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations

West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590 

To whom it may concern:

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 

2012 (the Reform Act),

I,Samuel Sawyer on this day of August 5th 2015, apply for an 

exemption from Federal AviationRegulations (FARs) detailed below to 

allow for commercial operations of a DJI Phantom

3 Advanced,four rotor UAS with an attached DJI Gimbal Mount 

holding a 1080p Camera for the purpose of aerial photography and 

video for real estate photography. The Reform Act allows the FAA to 

“establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft systems 

in the national airspace system”, 

I, Samuel Sawyer with use of the Phantom 3 Professional 

will provide the following benefits and ensure the highest level of 

safety possible:

The Phantom 3 has a maximum takeoff weight of less than three 

pounds so it is very lightweight and small compared to a larger 

manned aircraft. The Phantom 3 is small and compact and offers state 

of the art safety features, very low levels of noise, very easy 

controllability, and is battery operated benefiting the environment 

where as large manned aircraft does not provide.

Returning to the safety aspect of the Phantom 3, it provides several 

safety features such as Failsafe mode and automatic Return home 

feature with a push of a button or if signal between PIC and UAS is 

lost. The Phantom 3 features GPS based altitude and distance 

restrictions along with warnings of battery life and limits flight time 

according to battery life, engaging automatic return home mode at that 

point. The Dji Phantom 3 Advanced user manual attached, addresses 

this further. Furthermore, the Phantom 3 Advanced provides a very 

beneficial and cost effective tool to the real estate community and 
home buyers, by providing aerial photographic images and video only 

once available by utilizing manned aircraft at a much higher price and 

safety concern.

I, Samuel Sawyer, believe that safety is paramount, as this would be 

my main focus in operating the Phantom 3 Advanced at all times. I 

would be the sole operator of the aircraft at all times to ensure safety 

is paramount at all times as well. With the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced 

having a length of 590mm and a maximum speed of 16 Meters per 

second this is achievable. The Phantom 3 Advanced, as mentioned 

before, utilizes GPS/GLONASS location and is controlled by a 2.4 

GHz transmitter, and all operations will be conducted at Visual Line Of 

Sight (VLOS) at no more than 200 feet AGL at all times. 

No use of the Phantom 3 Advanced would occur in heavily populated 

areas or gatherings to ensure safety of the public. In addition, no use 

would occur near major highways or road systems, restricted areas, 

government property or buildings, or wildfires. In addition, all nonessential personnel will be at a minimum of 200 feet away from the 

Phantom 3 operations. If at any time non-essential personnel come 

within these guidelines, operations of the Phantom 3 will cease 

immediately. Also, all operations shall take place during daylight hours 

under suitable conditions equivalent to Visual Flight Rules with the 

Phantom 3 Advanced being no more than 3⁄4 NM from my person 

along with a visual observer(essential personnel). All operations will 

have a PIC(myself) and a Visual Observer (VO) present and all

operations will be within line of sight (LOS) of the PIC and VO to 

ensure that safety is paramount.

The Phantom 3 Advanced will yield to all manned aircraft at all times 

and all the required permits and permissions will be obtained from 

local and state government, home owners association should they be 

required. Every operation will include a pre-flight check by the PIC to 

ensure the Phantom 3 is safe to fly, operational, not damaged and 

meets the manufacturers specifications to fly safely, and not in any 

condition to pose a threat to anyone on the ground. A post-flight 

inspection will occur for added safety. 

Prior to operations, a pre job flight safety meeting will occur and be 

documented, recording and discussing any hazards or safety 
concerns and mitigations. Location of operations, parameters, weather 

conditions, duration of flight and route of flight will be included.

I have accumulated and accurately logged a minimum of 30 hours 

total time as the Phantom 3 Advanced rotorcraft pilot with a minimum 

of 10 hours as a UAS pilot with a multi -rotor UAS and 5 hours as a 

UAS pilot operating the same make and model of

UAS to be used for operations under the exemption.

The Phantom 3 UAS will utilize GPS/GLONASSlocation, auto return 

home and will never be operated at below 20% batter capacity.

The DJI Phantom 3UAS is a small and safe sub 3 pound plastic and 

composite aircraft utilizing four propellers driven by a

4480 mAh LiPo 4s 15.2v smart battery with a MAX flight time of 

23minutes. The remote control/transmitter operates at 2.4 GHz. 

The aircraft’s software has been set to FAA regulations of 400’ ceiling 

and recognizes zones around airports and forbids flight within 1.5 

miles of the center of a type A airport, and outside the 1.5 miles up to 

5 miles the altitude increase from 35’ to 400’ in a conical fashion

For example, at 1.5 miles out your limit is 35’ and at 3.25 Miles from 

the center the max altitude AGL is 217.5’. I think this feature is great 

and allows those who wish to take photos with their drone at say 10’ 

AGL 2 miles from an Airport, they are more than safe in doing so. 

The incorporated FLY SAFE technology also restricts flights in areas 

deemed not permitted by the FAA.The aircraft will automatically return 

to point of origin or descend in place should signal with the transmitter 

be lost. The UAS is unmanned operates at low altitudes, does not run 

on combustible fuel, has very low decibel level noise emissions and 

has a small payload capacity and short flight time, thus significantly 

reducing current risk levels involved with utilizing manned aircraft for 

aerial photography. Additionally, the cost associated with aerial 

photography is expensive, therefor I would be providing the public 

access to aerial photography and videography at much lower prices 

and at a greater level of safety compared to manned aircraft.

It is my belief that the small size of the Phantom 3 UAS, the basic 

operating parameters outlined above, the specific exemptions 

discussed below, the fully trained, and vetted crew and the equivalent 
level of safety provided at a much lower cost to the general public will 

allow the FAA to grant an exemption to myself, Samuel Sawyer for

commercial UAS aerial photography operations under the Reform 

Act of 2012.The exemption requests follow below. 

The DJI Phantom 3User’s Manuals links are as 

follows:

Quick Start Guide: http://download.djiinnovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_Q

uick_Start_Guide_en.pdf

User Manual:

http://download.djiinnovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/jp/Phantom

_3_Advanced_User_Manual_v1.2_jp.pdf

Sincerely,

Samuel Sawyer

3401 harvest hills Ave, apt 302

Williston, Nd 58801

(360)710-4356

Sawyersamuel@gmail.com

EXEMPTION REQUESTS AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY

Samuel Sawyer, requests an exemption from the following regulations 

as well as any additional regulations that may technically apply to the 

operation of the Phantom3 UAS.

14 CFR Part21, Subpart H:Air worthiness Certificates

This part establishes the procedures for the issuance of an 

airworthiness certificate. While the FAA continues to work to develop 

airworthiness standards for UAS, we request an experimental 

certificate be issued for the UAS operated by the applicant under 

either or both of the following provisions:
21 .191 

Experimental certificates.

Experimental certificates are issued for the following 

purposes:

(a) Research and development. Testing new aircraft design concepts, 

new aircraft equipment, new aircraft installations, new aircraft 

operating techniques, or new uses for aircraft.

(b) Showing compliance with regulations. Conducting flight tests 

and other operations to show compliance with the airworthiness 

regulations including flights to show compliance for issuance of type 

and supplemental type certificates, flights to substantiate major design 

changes, and flights to show compliance with the function and 

reliability requirements of the regulations.Since the experimental 

certificate can be used for commercial purposes such as market 

surveys, sales demonstrations, and customer crew training, we would 

expect that an experimental certificate would permit our commercial 

purpose as well.The aircraft will not carry persons or property and will 

only fly under strict operational requirements. As the Phantom UAS 

also carries no combustible fuel, weighs less than 3 pounds and is 

constructed primarily o ofplastics and composites, I propose the UAS 

is at least as safe, if not significantly safer than conventionally certified 

aircraft used within similar parameters.If an experimental 

airworthiness certificate is not appropriate for this application, then we 

request an exemption of 14 CFR Part21, Subpart H, and the 

requirement for an airworthiness certificate in general, citing the 

equivalent level of safety outlined in theprevious paragraph.

14 CFR 

91.203(a) & (b) 

Civil aircraft: Certifications required.
The regulation provides that an airworthiness certificate, with the 

registration number assigned to the aircraft and a registration 

certificate must be aboard the aircraft.Additionally, subparagraph 

(b) provides that he airworthiness certificate be "displayed at the cabin 

or cockpit entrance so that it is legible to passengers or crew.”

As the UAS is too small to carry documentation, does not have an 

entrance and does not carry a crew, we propose the following in order 

to meet the intent of 91.203 and provide an equivalent level of safety. 

All documents deemed appropriate by the FAA for this aircraft will be 

located at the operational ground station for each flight in proximity 

tothe PIC and VO and will be available for inspection on request. In 

order to identify theair craft, we propose to use the manufacturers 

model and production codes located on the aircraft as well as 

appropriate registration numbers and the telephone number of 

themanufacturer and Samuel Sawyer affixed to the aircraft as well. 

Should the FAA deem appropriate, we will also affix the word 

“EXPERIMENTAL” in the largest possible lettering given the size of 

the UAS, as discussed further below.

14 CFR 45.23 

Display of marks; general and 45.29 Size of marks.These regulations 

provide that each aircraft must display "N" and the aircraft's 

registration number in letters at least 3 inches high. Additionally, the 

aircraft must display the word "EXPERIMENTAL" in letters at least 2 

inches high near the entrance to the cabin, cockpit, or pilot station.

As the UAS does not have an entrance, may not have an FAA 

assigned registration number and is of such small size, we propose to 

affix the word “EXPERIMENTAL” in the largest possible lettering 

appropriate for the aircraft. Additionally, for each operation the ground 

station will be clearly identified with a banner containing the words 

“UAS Ground Station” that will be of appropriate size to be seen by 

any observer of the aircraft operations. The ground station will also 

have all registration and identity documents relating to the UAS.
14 CFR 91.9 Civil aircraft flight manual, marking, and placard 

requirements.This regulation provides that no person may operate an 

aircraft unless a current,approved flight manual is in the aircraft. The 

intent of this requirement is to ensure that flight manual information is 

available to the aircrew while operating the aircraft.

Samuel Sawyer

requests an exemption to this requirement as the UAS cannot, given 

its size, carry the flight manual. To meet an equivalent level of safety, 

we propose to have the current manufacturers flight manual available 

to both the PIC and VO. 

14 CFR 91.109 

Flight instruction; 

Simulated instrument flight and certain flight tests. The regulation 

provides that "No person may operate a civil aircraft that is being used 

for flight instruction unless that aircraft has fully functioning dual 

controls." The controls for the UAS do not currently have a set of fully 

functioning dual controls. If a UAS pilot is being trained, the pilot 

performing the training would be directly supervising and could take 

over the control s from the pilot in training if the need arose. This 

would be similar to the technique of a "throw over type" control wheel 

in some fixed wing aircraft. We feel that this technique meets the

intent 91 .109 and provides an equivalent level of safety.

14 CFR 91.119 

Minimum safe altitudes: 

General.The regulation provides that over sparsely populated areas 

the aircraft cannot be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, 

vessel, vehicle, or structure.Since the UAS will be operating at a 

maximum 200 feet AGL, we cannot comply with this requirement and 

thus ask for an exemption. 

14 CFR 9l.l21 Altimeter settings.
The regulation provides that aircraft shall maintain cruising altitudes by 

reference to an altimeter setting available within 100 nautical miles of 

the aircraft.The UAV will always be flying below 400 feet AGL within 

VLOS of the PIC and VO that will provide separation from terrain, 

structures and other aircraft. Also, the UAS will continually transmit an 

AGL reading back to the controller at the ground station and the AGL 

lock in the UAS’s software will be set to 400 feet, providing an 

equivalent level of safety. 

14 CFR 

91.151 Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions.

The regulation provides 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 to fly after that for at least 30 

minutes. I feel that the intention here is to provide a reserve of fuel to 

remain aloft should a landing be delayed or the landing point changed. 

The UAS is smart battery powered and continually transmits battery 

charge information back to the ground station to be evaluated by the 

PIC who will return the UAS back to the ground station when the 

battery shows 20% remaining capacity. 

14 CFR Subpart E (91.40191.4171

-

Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, and Alterations.

The regulation provides that the operator is primarily responsible for 

maintaining the aircraft in an airworthy condition, including compliance 

with part 39 and 43. Paragraphs 91.407 and 91.409 require that the 

aircraft be "approved for return to service by a person authorized 

under 43.7" after maintenance and inspection. I propose that the PIC 

perform maintenance and inspection and “be authorized to approve 

the aircraft for return to service.