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TAKING FLIGHT: SMALL BUSINESS UTILIZATION 

OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

UNITED STATES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

HEARING HELD 

JULY 15, 2015 

Small Business Committee Document Number 114–019 

Available via the GPO Website: www.fdsys.gov 

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Congress.#13
(II) 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Chairman 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri 

RICHARD HANNA, New York 

TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas 

TOM RICE, South Carolina 

CHRIS GIBSON, New York 

DAVE BRAT, Virginia 

AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, American Samoa 

STEVE KNIGHT, California 

CARLOS CURBELO, Florida 

MIKE BOST, Illinois 

CRESENT HARDY, Nevada 

NYDIA VELA ́ ZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member 

YVETTE CLARK, New York 

JUDY CHU, California 

JANICE HAHN, California 

DONALD PAYNE, JR., New Jersey 

GRACE MENG, New York 

BRENDA LAWRENCE, Michigan 

ALMA ADAMS, North Carolina 

SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts 

MARK TAKAI, Hawaii 

KEVIN FITZPATRICK, Staff Director 

STEPHEN DENNIS, Deputy Staff Director for Policy 

JAN OLIVER, Deputy Staff Director for Operation 

BARRY PINELES, Chief Counsel 

MICHAEL DAY, Minority Staff Director 

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C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Page 

Hon. Steve Chabot ................................................................................................... 1 

Hon. Nydia Vela ́zquez ............................................................................................. 2 

WITNESSES 

Mr. Brian Wynne, President & CEO, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, Arlington, VA ...................................................................... 4 

Mr. Mike Gilkey, CEO and Director of Flight Operations, 3D Aerial Solutions 

LLC, Dayton, OH ................................................................................................. 6 

Mr. Brian Streem, CEO/Cofounder, AeroCine, Brooklyn, NY ............................. 7 

Dr. Tim McLain, Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Director of the 

Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Brigham Young University, Provo, 

UT .......................................................................................................................... 9 

APPENDIX 

Prepared Statements: 

Mr. Brian Wynne, President & CEO, Association for Unmanned Vehicle 

Systems International, Arlington, VA ......................................................... 24 

Mr. Mike Gilkey, CEO and Director of Flight Operations, 3D Aerial 

Solutions LLC, Dayton, OH ......................................................................... 29 

Mr. Brian Streem, CEO/Cofounder, AeroCine, Brooklyn, NY ...................... 36 

Dr. Tim McLain, Professor of Mechnical Engineering & Director of the 

Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Brigham Young University, 

Provo, UT ....................................................................................................... 39 

Questions for the Record: 

Question to Mr. Brian Wynne from Hon. Carlos Curbelo ............................. 42 

Question to Mr. Mike Gilkey from Hon. Steve Chabot ................................. 61 

Questions to Mr. Brian Streem from Hon. Steve Chabot and Hon. Carlos 

Curbelo ........................................................................................................... 66 

Answers for the Record: 

Mr. Brian Wynne’s response to question by Hon. Carlos Curbelo ............... 43 

Mr. Mike Gilkey’s response to question by Hon. Steve Chabot .................... 62 

Mr. Brian Streem’s responses to questions by Hon. Steve Chabot and 

Hon. Carlos Curbelo ..................................................................................... 67 

Additional Material for the Record: 

MPAA - Motion Picture Association of America ............................................ 68 

NAR - National Association of Realtors .......................................................... 70 

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(1) 

TAKING FLIGHT: SMALL BUSINESS 

UTILIZATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:00 a.m., in Room 

2360, Rayburn House Office Building. Hon. Steve Chabot [chairman of the Committee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Chabot, Luetkemeyer, Hanna, 

Huelskamp, Brat, Radewagen, Knight, Curbelo, Bost, Hardy, Kelly, 

Vela ́zquez, Meng, Lawrence, Clarke, and Moulton. 

Chairman CHABOT. Good morning. The Committee will come to 

order. 

It was at a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, which is just north of 

my congressional district by coincidence, where two entrepreneurs 

dreamed up a machine that would fly people through the air. It 

took a bold spirit to think that big. And even bolder spirit to test 

it. But Orville and Wilbur Wright persevered and changed the 

course of history. A little more than a half century later, we would 

fly to the moon, and a half century after that, we are discussing 

an era when men and women do not even need to be in the aircraft 

to pilot it. Dayton, Ohio led them, and it is leading again, and one 

of our witnesses here today is a testament to that. 

We are here today to examine the commercial usage of unmanned aircraft by small businesses, to look at the benefits of this 

technology, and discuss some of the concerns surrounding safe operations. Most importantly, we will have a conversation about how 

America can once again lead the world in a new era of flight. 

The potential uses of unmanned aircraft systems or UAS is limitless. They can be used by local broadcasters to gather footage and 

report the news. They can be used by farmers to better manage 

their crops. They can be used by engineering firms to inspect 

bridges. And they can be used by first responders to help save 

lives. 

At the University of Cincinnati, students are working with a fire 

department to develop aircraft that give real-time information to 

firefighters and emergency crews about where a fire is burning and 

where it is moving. Currently, the Federal Aviation Administration 

is working to integrate unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, into 

the national airspace system. On a case-by-case basis, the FAA is 

authorizing low-risk commercial UAS operations. The FAA also has 

proposed a rule to allow small unmanned aircraft—those weighing 

55 pounds or less—to operate in our skies. The proposed rule inSBREP-219 with DISTILLER

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cludes a number of operating restrictions aimed at ensuring safe 

operations. 

I’m interested in learning from the small businesses and 

innovators, whom we have here today, on the frontlines about how 

the FAA’s current process is working for them and how the 

porposed rule, once finalized, may affect their operations. I am also 

looking forward to hearing how their small businesses are utilizing 

this new technology and planning for the day when UAS are fully 

integrated into American airspace. 

There are moments when we can unleash a positive force of innovation and job creation if we don’t smother it with regulations. 

Most of the time, the government misses these moments and we 

are left to wonder what could have been. There is always a balance 

to be struck. While we must promote public safety and proper 

usage of unmanned aircraft, we must ensure that the regulations 

are carefully crafted so that they don’t prevent this new industry 

from innovating and helping grow our economy, and most importantly, create jobs. 

I am eager to hear what our witnesses have to say about their 

own experiences, and I look forward to seeing how this new industry grows, and as it does, creates new opportunities for small businesses to capitalize on new technology. 

I would now like to recognize our ranking member for her opening statement this morning. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for 

holding this important hearing. 

America’s entrepreneurs have long played an important role in 

the development and growth of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). 

While the evolution of these systems has been a game changer for 

our military, the benefits are not limited to the battlefield. Civilian 

drones can be employed for a wide range of commercial uses, and 

some companies are experimenting with this technology to deliver 

products to consumers. UAVs offer a cost-effective solution for everything from agriculture, to news coverage, to mapping and surveying terrain, to the film industry. 

For our overall economy to remain competitive, it is important 

that the United States continue researching and developing this 

technology. Should we wait, other countries will likely pass us by 

in this emerging market. Japan has already moved forward aggressively to address safety and airspace regulation issues. Europe is 

expected to account for 15 percent of procurement of unmanned 

aerial vehicles, while European companies will produce nearly 4 

percent of UAVs. 

As we work to ensure the United States remains on the forefront 

of developing this technology, small businesses must continue playing a critical role. The Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Technology Transfer Program have been an 

important public-private partnership that has harnessed entrepreneurs’ ingenuity to move UAV technology forward. This committee can play an important oversight role in helping ensure those 

initiatives operate as Congress intended and help ensure small 

companies remain involved in drone development. 

Beyond the small business participation in UAV research, a 

number of other important policy issues must be addressed in order 

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for commercial drone technology to fully blossom. The FAA’s recent 

proposed rulemaking on licensing of drones and regulations of 

speed and altitude appears to be a good step in the right direction. 

It is my hope that today we can obtain a better understanding of 

how small companies, both as developers of drone technology and 

potential users will be impacted by the rulemaking. 

In addition, there are significant privacy concerns associated 

with unmanned aerial systems. As always, the challenge will be 

balancing the need to protect the public from potential abuse, while 

allowing room for this new technology to take root, grow, and help 

fuel commerce. 

Mr. Chairman, entrepreneurs have a significant stake in how our 

nation proceeds with the regulation and development of UAV technology. It is my hope that by working together with the industry, 

our nation can harness the full potential of this nascent technology, 

providing an exciting new sector for small businesses and creating 

opportunity for new jobs and economic growth. 

With that, let me thank the witnesses for coming here to testify, 

and especially I want to welcome a small business owner from my 

district, Mr. Streem. And it is a business that is changing the face 

of the film industry. Welcome. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you. 

If Committee members have opening statements, I would ask 

that they submit them for the record. 

And I will take just a moment to explain our five-minute rule, 

which is basically you get five minutes to speak. And there is a 

lighting system there to assist you. The green light will be on for 

about four minutes, the yellow light will come on to let you know 

you have got about a minute to wrap up, and the red light will 

come on and we would ask you to try to stay within that as much 

as possible. We will give you a little leeway but not a whole lot. 

So we thank you for being here. 

And our first witness I will introduce now is Brian Wynne. Mr. 

Wynne is the president and CEO of the Association for Unmanned 

Vehicle Systems International. AUVSI is the largest trade association representing the unmanned systems and robotics industry. Mr. 

Wynne has significant transportation and technology experience. 

He has served in executive positions at the Electric Drive Transportation Association, the Intelligent Transportation Society of 

America, and the Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility. Mr. Wynne holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of 

Scranton, and a master’s degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. 

Our next witness will be Mike Gilkey, who is the CEO and Director of Flight Operations for 3D Aerial Solutions LLC, a Dayton, 

Ohio unmanned aircraft systems start-up company. Mr. Gilkey has 

over 30 years of experience working on national security programs, 

primarily for the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. He has worked on airborne sensors research and development, as well as advanced projects for unmanned military. Or excuse me, unmanned military aircraft. Mr. 

Gilkey and some colleagues from the defense industry founded 3D 

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Aerial Solutions in 2013. It was the second company in Ohio to be 

granted a Section 333 exemption by the FAA and is now performing commercial operations for the agriculture industry in the 

Midwest. Mr. Gilkey earned both a Bachelor of Science and Master 

of Science in Electrical Engineering. 

Our third witness, Brian Streem, is a filmmaker and entrepreneur as the ranking member mentioned. He is the CEO and Cofounder of AeroCine, a commercial unmanned aircraft systems designer, builder, and operator located in the ranking member’s district, as I mentioned, in New York. Mr. Streem has produced five 

feature films, including Sundance Film Festival winner ‘‘James 

White.’’ He also produced television commercials for Uber, 

Gatorade, Ralph Lauren, Toyota, Nokia, and Samsung. Mr. Streem 

is a graduate of the NYU Tisch School of Arts, where he studied 

filmmaking with a focus in art and technology. In 2013, Mr. Streem 

founded AeroCine with fellow NYU Tisch graduate and filmmaker, 

Jeff Brink. And AeroCine was one of the first companies in the 

United States to receive permission to operate from the FAA. 

And I will now yield to Ms. Vela ́zquez to introduce Dr. McLain. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. It is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Tim 

McLain. Professor McLain is the director of the National Science 

Foundation Sponsor Center for Unmanned Aircraft System, which 

in conjunction with a number of universities performs industrysponsored research related to unmanned aircraft systems. He has 

over 15 years of research experience in this technology and has 

even been a cofounder of two USA startup companies. In addition 

to his duties at the Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Professor McLain also teaches in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Brigham Young University. 

Welcome. Thank you for being here today. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you. We thank you all for being 

here. 

Mr. Wynne, you are recognized for five minutes. 

STATEMENTS OF BRIAN WYNNE, PRESIDENT & CEO, ASSOCIATION FOR UNMANNED VEHICLE SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL; 

MIKE GILKEY, CEO AND DIRECTOR OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS, 

3D AERIAL SOLUTIONS LLC; BRIAN STREEM, CEO/FOUNDER, 

AEROCINE; TIM MCLAIN, PROFESSOR OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING & DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR UNMANNED 

AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY 

STATEMENT OF BRIAN WYNNE 

Mr. WYNNE. Thank you, Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member 

Vela ́zquez, and members of the Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to talk about unmanned aerial systems— 

I mean, aircraft systems, excuse me. 

I am speaking on behalf of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle 

Systems International, the world’s largest nonprofit organization 

devoted exclusively to advancing the unmanned systems and robotics community. AUVSI has been the voice of unmanned systems for 

more than 40 years, and currently, we have more than 7,500 members, including many small businesses that support and supply this 

high-tech industry. 

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Unmanned aircraft systems increase human potential, allowing 

us to execute dangerous or difficult tasks safely and efficiently. 

From inspecting pipelines and surveying bridges, to filming movies, 

and crops, the applications of UAS are virtually limitless and offer 

a superior way to see what needs to be seen in less time at less 

expense. 

For years, AUVSI has been the leading advocate for the safe integration of UAS in the national airspace system. We were delighted earlier this year when the Federal Aviation Administration 

published its long-awaited proposed rules for commercial and civil 

operations of small UAS, which are systems that weigh 55 pounds 

or less. These proposed rules are a critical milestone in the UAS 

integration process and bring us closer to realizing the tremendous 

societal and economic benefits of this technology. 

As the FAA has worked on these rules, much has already 

changed in the industry. Since Congress tasked the FAA with creating UAS regulations in 2012, the technology has gone from a specialized tool to a must-have business asset. The flood of commercial 

exemption requests to the FAA shows that a mature UAS commercial market is waiting to be unleashed. Of the more than 700 exemptions—and I am given to understand 800 now—the website is 

still catching up with the number of exemptions that have been 

issued, the vast majority are small businesses. Just as 

smartphones and tablets revolutionized our economy over the past 

decade, UAS are transforming the way a number of industries operate and are creating several new ones as well. 

Let me provide some examples. North Carolina-based Precision 

Hawk is a startup that manufactures UAS and Cloud-based data 

collection software. Its platform is helping farmers survey crops 

and assisting insurance companies with claims following natural 

disasters. The company is also helping the FAA and industry research extended visual line of sight operations in rural areas. Precision Hawk started in 2010 with six employees and now has more 

than 70 with multiple offices in the U.S. and around the world. 

Another example is California-based Aerial MOB. The film company was one of the first to receive a commercial exemption from 

the FAA. It has since performed the first-ever FAA-approved film 

production project with a major Hollywood studio and a number of 

promos among others. My colleagues will give additional examples 

of real-world small business applications of UAS. 

The FAA continues to approve about 50 new commercial operations a week, a process that has recently been streamlined. However, this current system of case-by-case approvals, whether 

streamlined or not, is not a long-term solution for the many small 

businesses wanting to fly. 

As an industry, we want to see the integration of UAS proceed 

and without any further delays. It is important that the FAA finalize the small UAS rules as quickly as possible. Once this happens, 

we will have an established framework for UAS operators that will 

allow anyone who follows the rules to fly. 

Equally important, Congress needs to pass, and the president 

needs to sign into law an FAA reauthorization measure before the 

current authorization expires on September 30, 2015. This measure 

is critical in the most immediate way to achieve the necessary 

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steps to encourage innovation and ensure the continued safety of 

the national airspace while accelerating the commercial use of 

UAS. 

It is not just the many uses of this technology that are at stake, 

but also the 100,000 jobs and 82 billion in economic impact that the 

UAS industry is expected to create in its first decade following integration. With the right regulatory environment, there is no question these numbers could go even higher. But the longer we take, 

the more our nation risks losing its innovation edge, along with billions in economic impact. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today and I look forward 

to answering any questions. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Gilkey, you are recognized for five minutes. 

STATEMENT OF MIKE GILKEY 

Mr. GILKEY. Good morning, Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member Vela ́zquez, and members of the Committee. It is a pleasure to 

be here today to discuss an entrepreneur’s perspective of the 

emerging unmanned aircraft systems industry. 

Unmanned systems hold the potential to truly revolutionize our 

economy and way of life. Unmanned aircraft systems provide innovative new tools for the common man, which are being employed 

in uncommon ways. A new industry is being born, resulting in the 

creation of many new small businesses. 

Small business people like me are slugging their way through 

the obstacles and bureaucracy to fulfill our dreams of creating this 

new industry. We are pioneers determined to succeed and believe 

the country and the world will be beneficiaries. 

I welcome the opportunity to be here today to inform the Committee of our story and explore how Congress can foster a more accommodating environment for small business, which ensures safe 

operations and protects privacy. 

My colleagues and I created 3D Aerial Solutions in 2013 to leverage our expertise working with military unmanned aircraft and 

transition advanced technology know-how to civilian problems. We 

self-funded 3D Aerial through an initial round of owner investment 

and began buying aircraft and equipment. We purchased a 

senseFly eBee aircraft, which I have here today, because it is highly automated, easy to use, and precise. 

We are now sales agent for this product line. We began flying 

under the Academy of Model Aeronautics Hobbyist rules and became experts on the use of this equipment. 3D Aerial became an 

affiliate member of the Entrepreneur Center, a technology business 

incubator in Dayton, Ohio, to gain access to business advice and 

meeting facilities. 

3D Aerial believes we in the UAS industry have a responsibility 

to reach out and educate the public, and to this end, we started the 

Dayton Drone Users Group for community outreach. Our private 

business was not eligible to apply for a certificate of authorization 

in order to fly commercially. We collaborated with the Ohio-Indiana 

UAS Center and Test Complex and were able to fly on a COA they 

established. 

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For the most part, however, we spent a year and a half in a holding pattern awaiting for the authority to make money flying aircraft. 3D Aerial submitted our request for a Section 333 exemption 

on October 14, 2014, and was granted an exemption on March 3, 

2015. We were the second company in Ohio to be granted this exemption. 3D Aerial received the corresponding COA on March 23rd 

and completed registration of our aircraft on May 7th. 

With these steps complete, we are now authorized to legally perform commercial flying services limited only to flights of the eBee 

aircraft and only for agricultural applications. The blanket COA allows us to operate throughout the United States but is subject to 

a large number of significant restrictions. 

3D Aerial is now providing UAS flight services to perform aerial 

imaging of crops using the eBee. We also process the imagery into 

a variety of desired image products which we provide to the farmer. 

We are in the process of hiring more pilots and buying more aircraft. Small UAS, like our eBee, can fly much lower than manned 

aircraft and can offer extremely high image resolution less than 

one inch per pixel. They also can be operated very inexpensively 

and virtually on demand. 

The FAA issued its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for operation 

and certification of small UAS on February 23rd. Implementation 

of final rules is not expected until mid-2016 at the earliest. While 

there are still many restrictions, the current rules as proposed will 

represent a step forward for the small UAS industry. 

3D Aerial’s primary concerns with the new rules as a small business operator are the cost to gain FAA operator certification, the 

phase-in period for compliance with new rules, impact of state and 

local rules restricting UAS operations, and enforcement of regulations. 

In closing, it is an exciting time to be in the emerging commercial UAS industry. If fostered through a reasonable balance of regulations to protect national airspace and accommodating economic 

policy, small business will be a significant engine of growth delivering on the promise of new jobs and expanded tax base that will 

benefit our economy. Furthermore, the advanced technology capability we offer today will continue to improve and provide growing 

value to our society. 

On behalf of my colleagues at 3D Aerial Solutions, I thank you 

for allowing me to speak to you today. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Streem, you are recognized for five minutes. 

STATEMENT OF BRIAN STREEM 

Mr. STREEM. Thank you. 

Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member Vela ́zquez, and members of 

the Committee, my name is Brian Streem, and I am the cofounder 

and CEO of AeroCine, a drone company that uses unmanned aerial 

vehicles to fly Hollywood cameras for movies, television, advertising, and real estate, among other things. Thank you for having 

me here today and for holding this critical hearing. Ranking Member Vela ́zquez, we are proud to be constituents of your district. It 

is my honor to be here before all of you. 

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I wish I could tell you that I am one of the world’s foremost 

roboticists or rocket scientists, but for a hearing such as this—— 

Chairman CHABOT. Let me interrupt you just one second. 

Mr. STREEM. Sure. 

Chairman CHABOT. In case anybody has not noticed, as you see 

on the screen, listen but watch. 

Mr. STREEM. Do more watching than listening. 

I wish I was one of the world’s foremost rocket scientists or 

roboticists, but for a hearing such as this, my experience as an artist and NYU film school graduate is really the story. It also just 

so happens I am building my own drones and consider this part of 

the new American dream. 

The unmanned aerial system industry worldwide has created a 

new generation of entrepreneurs who are innovating with small 

businesses that will reshape the global economy. Safe and responsible use of UAS will be ubiquitous across every sector of the economy. Unfortunately, this worldwide phenomenon is in jeopardy 

here at home in the United States due to the current state of regulation that prohibits commercial operations absent an exemption. 

I consider myself lucky, as AeroCine was among the very first 

U.S. companies and the very first New York company to receive the 

FAA exemption to operate commercially, but to continue to have to 

seek permission to adapt and change to a client’s need is expensive, 

it is time consuming, and it is frustrating. And yet my passion for 

the industry has not waned. 

Three years ago, witnessing a helicopter flying a miniature camera capturing breathtaking video, I was astonished, and I realized 

that this new technology would introduce the world to a new creative frontier, in addition to hundreds, if not thousands of additional efficient and paradigm-shifting innovations, the implications 

for filmmaking were readily apparent. Film producers make extensive use of cranes, camera cars, helicopters, all in an elaborate effort to get the best shot. This is sufficient and still viable in some 

cases, but drones are more cost effective when operated responsibly 

and can greatly reduce potential risk to human lives. A drone has 

the capability to replace all of these on film sets while reducing the 

risk to human life and enhancing the artistic pursuit. What excited 

me about drones three years ago is the same thing that excites me 

today. At their very core, drones present a way to easily place a 

sensor anywhere in three-dimensional space; what could once only 

be dreamed can now be produced. 

When my partner, Jeff Brink, and I started AeroCine, we 

planned to simply purchase a drone to carry large cinema cameras. 

Finding no suitable system on the market, we drew from academic 

and aerospace circles to build a team of engineers and set out to 

create an aerial-robotic system of our own. Today, our work ranges 

from designing custom UAVs to operating UAVs for big budget 

films, television shows, live programs, and special events. We are 

proud to be bringing to consumers image and video that has never 

been created. 

The FAA’s efforts to integrate UAVs into the national airspace 

are commendable in the face of extraordinary challenges. One notable step is the increased speed with which the FAA is awarding 

Section 333 exemptions. The publication of Proposed Rule for Small 

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Drones is also promising, but we understand we may be a year or 

more away from a final rule. And even so, the proposed rule is in 

many respects too restrictive, evidenced by many companies’ move 

to test in Canada and elsewhere. If we do not scramble to bring our 

regulations up to speed, our innovators will be eclipsed by entrepreneurs and other countries that have an established legal framework. 

Before we conclude, we would like to invite the members of the 

Committee to visit our website, AeroCine.com, to view some of our 

captivating cinematography that this new technology has allowed 

us to capture. We would like to also thank the small UAV coalition 

for its leadership in promoting the UAV industry. AeroCine stands 

ready to assist this Committee and the U.S. Congress in bringing 

this exciting technology to consumers, and we thank you for your 

leadership in holding this hearing. 

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Vela ́zquez, and members of the 

Committee, this concludes my opening statement. I look forward to 

answering any questions from the Committee. Thank you. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

Dr. McLain, you are recognized for five minutes. 

STATEMENT OF TIM MCLAIN 

Mr. MCLAIN. Thank you, Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member 

Vela ́zquez, and members of the Committee, for inviting me to 

speak today. I will provide the perspective of a professor who has 

been involved in unmanned aircraft systems research for over 15 

years and who has interacted with small businesses in a variety of 

ways. 

I am a professor of mechanical engineering at Brigham Young 

University and currently direct a National Science Foundation 

sponsored research consortium called the Center for Unmanned 

Aircraft Systems. The center brings together researchers from industry and academia to collaborate on research challenges facing 

the UAS industry. Our research universities include BYU, the University of Colorado, and Virginia Tech. 

From my perspective, small businesses have played a vital role 

in the creation and growth of the UAS industry in the United 

States. Without doubt, a significant portion of the innovation in the 

UAS industry has come from entrepreneurial startup companies. 

During the last decade, as unmanned aircraft have had a transformational impact on military operations, and as the promise of 

regulatory change has increased their viability for commercial applications, larger companies have taken greater interest in small 

UAS. Illustrating the importance of small business to the UAS industry, a common approach for large companies to enter or become 

more competitive in the UAS marketplace has been for them to acquire small, innovative companies. 

As regulations are put in place to allow commercial flights of 

UAS, there will be a shift away from defense applications and an 

acceleration of market opportunities. This is particularly true for 

small UAS due to their accessibility and relatively low costs. Applications that have been envisioned for small UAS include agricultural monitoring, infrastructure inspection, wildlife monitoring, 

package delivery, aerial mapping, and many more. As Mr. Wynne 

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has testified, AUVSI projects that the 10-year economic impact of 

UAS in the United States will be $82 billion, with over 100,000 

new high-tech jobs created. 

Because many UAS application markets are undeveloped and 

high risk, it is likely that small, innovative businesses will be the 

first to enter these markets, to build them, and to prove their viability and value. More than ever, small business is essential to the 

growth and maturation of the UAS industry. These businesses will 

include both developers of UAS products and providers of UAS 

services. 

Current UAS market estimates are based on specific applications 

that have already been identified. From my perspective, even more 

exciting than these known applications are those that have not yet 

been conceived. Much like the Internet of the 1990s, the potential 

of unmanned aircraft to enhance our lives is in its infancy and we 

do not yet have a full sense of the impact of this technology. 

To enable and accelerate growth in the UAS industry and facilitate the participation of small businesses, the regulatory barriers 

to entry must be kept low. If the cost of obtaining authorization to 

fly are too high, then these UAS markets of opportunity will be 

closed to all but larger companies that are well capitalized. Smaller 

companies will not be able to participate and bring their creative 

products to market. Costs for UAS technologies and services will 

remain high, innovation and progress will be hampered, and the 

U.S. will lose its competitive leadership position in an industry 

that it pioneered. 

The progress of UAS research and commercialization in the 

United States has been inhibited by the lack of a regulatory framework that allows unmanned aircraft flights to take place. The 

FAA’s small UAS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is a good step forward that will help accelerate growth in many UAS application 

areas and allow viable UAS businesses to be established. The small 

UAS rule, however, only allows flight within visual line of sight of 

the operator. For many important applications, such as oil pipeline 

monitoring and package delivery, beyond line-of-sight capabilities 

are essential. Regulations permitting safe beyond line-of-sight 

flight are needed to allow the benefits of UAS technology to be fully 

realized. 

In summary, small businesses have played a vital role in the development of the U.S. unmanned aircraft industry by way of their 

vision, innovation, and willingness to take risks in emerging technology markets. As we move into the future of commercial UAS applications, small businesses will continue to make critical contributions to the success of this important industry. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to address the Committee. 

I look forward to any questions that you may have. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

And to be fair, we apply the same five-minute rule to ourselves 

that we applied to you, so we will all stay within five minutes ourselves. And I will recognize myself for that purpose at this time. 

Mr. Wynne, I will begin with you. Aging infrastructure, as I am 

sure you know, is a significant issue all across the United States. 

In my own district, we have the Brent Spence Bridge, which we are 

struggling with trying to find a way to replace it. It is considered 

SBREP-219 with DISTILLER

11 

functionally obsolete. What are the benefits of using UAS to inspect 

aging infrastructure around the country? And if you want to give 

examples, that is fine. 

Mr. WYNNE. I think they are very significant, Mr. Chairman. 

Typically, when you are inspecting a bridge, you have to close that 

bridge. People have to potentially hang off the bridge in harnesses 

and look. We have enormously sophisticated sensors today that can 

be mounted on these platforms that can actually do that job, in 

some instances better than the ‘‘mark one eyeball.’’ So being able 

to actually fly a UAS under a bridge, rather than putting a human 

under it, can actually not only increase the safety of that operation 

but also increase the effectiveness of it. 

Chairman CHABOT. And obviously, I mean, UAS can have different forms. This one is a fixed wing. Now, if you were inspecting 

a bridge, I assume it would be more of a helicopter? 

Mr. WYNNE. Rotary based. 

Chairman CHABOT. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. 

All right. Mr. Gilkey, let me turn to you, if I can. And it is great 

to have an Ohio company that is a trailblazer for this new industry 

appear before the Committee. You have described the challenge of 

the evolving regulatory environment for a small business like 3D 

Aerial Solutions. What are some of the other challenges that you 

have encountered or are currently encountering? 

Mr. GILKEY. One of the biggest challenges we have is with public perception. People are afraid of drones who are not educated on 

what they can do and the safety aspects of it. That is something 

that challenges us and that is why we feel a responsibility to do 

community outreach, which we are doing with the Dayton Drone 

Users Group. That is one of the biggest. And state economic development funding is flowing in the state to support work in this area. 

It is not coming to companies like ours. It is disproportionately 

going to public institutions and research institutions that do not 

provide benefit to companies like 3D Aerial. 

Chairman CHABOT. When you say some people are afraid of 

drones, what are they afraid of? 

Mr. GILKEY. Privacy rights violations is the primary concern, 

and then safety is a second. 

Chairman CHABOT. Okay. Thank you. 

Mr. Streem, I will turn to you now. In your testimony, you noted 

that the proposed rule for UAS, I believe, is too restrictive. What 

are your concerns with the operating restrictions that the FAA has 

proposed? 

Mr. STREEM. One of them is the ability to fly at night. There 

have been several instances where on closed set filmmaking, we 

have been asked by Hollywood productions to use a drone at night 

and we were unable to do the operation. We believe we can do it 

safely, and not being able to do it, it means, quite frankly, we did 

not get the job. 

Chairman CHABOT. Okay. Thank you. 

Dr. McLain, I will turn to you now. In your testimony you stated 

that ‘‘to enable and accelerate growth in UAS industry and facilitate the participation of small business, the regulatory barriers to 

entry must be kept low.’’ And I tend to agree with you. Does the 

FAA’s proposed rule for small UAS, in your belief, strike the right 

SBREP-219 with DISTILLER

12 

balance between ensuring safe operations and permitting small 

businesses to participate in the development of industry? 

Mr. MCLAIN. I believe that the proposed rule is a good step forward in the right direction, but there are some limitations to it 

that have been mentioned—the beyond line-of-sight restrictions, as 

well as the restrictions that Mr. Streem mentioned that do not 

allow nighttime flight. Those are a couple of restrictions that I believe could be carried out safely with the implementation of proper 

technology and proper regulations. Like I said, I think the small 

UAS rule is a good step forward, but I think many of the most 

promising applications for small UAS, or even larger UAS, are not 

encompassed by that rule. 

Chairman CHABOT. Okay. Thank you. My time is about expired. 

I think this is a very interesting topic that we are on here today, 

and I have heard the same concerns, Mr. Gilkey, that you have 

heard, and have seen some of the programs, 60 Minutes and some 

of the others that you have people afraid you are going to have 

somebody flying one of these up to your window and looking in or 

they are going to be doing something they should not be doing, or 

even terrorists, or who knows. And it was not particularly helpful 

when this knucklehead in the copter came up here on Capitol Hill. 

Now, that was not an unmanned vehicle, obviously, because he was 

in it, but there is always potential abuse in anything but I think 

this is something that could be tremendous for our country and job 

creation if we do it right. And you are all here helping us to make 

sure that we do get it right. So thank you for being here. 

And I will now yield to the gentlelady from New York. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Wynne, one survey found that many companies are unclear 

of the current FAA regulations; yet, they continue to operate commercial drones anyway. This arbitrary rule-following is troublesome and could present a risk to the public safety. What can be 

done to avert a recurrence of this behavior and increase the level 

of public adherence to the regulations? 

Mr. WYNNE. I am going to answer that with one word and that 

is education. There are a lot of people that are coming into this 

community, into the unmanned systems and robotics community 

that are not aviators, and they are operating in aviation space, in 

the national airspace system. And it is not a particularly complex 

system in some respects, but in other respects it really is. If we 

looked at the number of instances, I think what we would find is 

that many of them might be real estate agents who want to take 

a picture of a house from a different angle that have not bothered 

to get a Section 333. I am opposed to that. People need to obviously 

respect the law, and until we have the proposed rules finalized 

which would allow such operations, they need to get a Section 333. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. So you do not feel that any enforcement mechanism should be put in place? 

Mr. WYNNE. I think it would be very appropriate for the FAA 

to enforce the rules, and if you are flying for money illegally without a 333 exemption, enforcement should be carried out. It is very 

difficult to do that at this stage of the game, which is why we were 

encouraging the FAA to finalize those rules very quickly. 

SBREP-219 with DISTILLER

13 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Professor McLain, there are some countries 

that have already solved some of the airspace integration problems 

the FAA is addressing in these rules. Have the current regulations 

in this area prevented us from solving these issues at the same 

pace as other countries? 

Mr. MCLAIN. So the regulations in other countries are in many 

respects similar to the small UAS rule. There are some countries 

where they have beyond-line-of-sight flight capabilities. But the 

FAA, I think the biggest problem with their approach thus far is 

just the pace at which they moved forward. The regulations that 

were in place prior to 2007 are essentially the same regulations 

that the FAA is proposing to enact this year. So the question would 

be, why has it taken nine years to bring about the current UAS 

rule proposal? In the course of these nine years, small businesses 

have come and gone because of the lack of a regulatory framework. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. So you do not see any steps that other countries have taken that could be implemented here by the FAA to expedite the process? 

Mr. MCLAIN. Well, I think the small UAS rule is a good step 

forward, and I think if they could get that in place, that would 

close the gap between the regulations in other parts of the world 

and what we have currently in the United States, which is very, 

very limiting. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you. 

Mr. Streem, your business holds a certificate of authorization 

from the FAA that allows it to commercially fly drones for closerange aerial imaging. How difficult was it for your firm to obtain 

the certificate? 

Mr. STREEM. It was incredibly difficult, in particular, because 

we were one of the first to file for it. There was no roadmap to really go by. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. But my question is, today, are you aware if 

it is complex and difficult? 

Mr. STREEM. I am not because I am not going through the process. I would expect it is simpler. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Okay. 

I have a question about insurance and liability. I understand 

that not too many carriers are providing insurance, and so what 

risk does it pose to the public and to those who have drones at this 

point? 

Mr. STREEM. Yes. We have insurance. It is expensive. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. One study found that two-thirds of businesses 

operate without commercial liability. 

Mr. STREEM. Right. It is an expensive cost for small businesses 

that many avoid until they have to. We just got our insurance recently when we just began to fly, and we have collision and liability 

insurance for our operations. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. And with two-thirds, what is happening when 

accidents occur and the operator does not have insurance? 

Mr. STREEM. I do not know. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. They will be taken to court? 

Mr. STREEM. Yes. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Okay. Thank you. 

SBREP-219 with DISTILLER

14 

Chairman CHABOT. The gentlelady’s time is expired. Thank 

you. 

The gentleman from California, Mr. Knight, is recognized for five 

minutes. 

Mr. KNIGHT. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

Thank you for the Wright Brothers’ history there. I always appreciate that, and I appreciate seeing all these new companies here 

since the Wright Brothers beat out government contract over 100 

years ago, and I think that that is kind of the story. 

My questions are, and I think either Mr. Gilkey, maybe Mr. 

Wynne, talked about privacy. We have had some recent problems 

in firefighting in California where folks have flown UAS into the 

firefighting scene trying to get some pictures or put something on 

the Internet. They have interfered with firefighting operations. In 

fact, at one point they had to stop drops into the area because of 

the UAS actions by civilians. How does your industry feel about 

that? Should there be some talk about that in Congress? Should 

there be some restrictions on that? How do you feel? 

Mr. WYNNE. I am happy to field that one. My son is a firefighter, so I feel very strongly. 

In all of these instances, a temporary flight restriction (TFR) was 

put up around the operation, and the airboss for that TFR, whoever was actually handling the operations was having to divert his 

traffic because there were things flying around in there that did 

not belong and they were not under positive control. That is a bad 

thing. That is a bad thing in any temporary flight restriction, 

whether it is over a sporting event or any other place. 

I think education is, again, key. We have people flying right now 

who are not aviators. They do not understand exactly what a TFR 

is. They are violating FAA regulations and those regulations need 

to be enforced because there are lives and property at stake. So the 

community feels very strongly that this is our responsibility to educate our operators and make certain. 

We have a difficult situation right now because in those instances, they might actually be people who are flying that are not 

commercial operators, and anyone can go and buy a UAS from a 

local electronics store. Again, we have a ‘‘Know before you fly’’ campaign that we have stood up with other organizations, such as the 

Small UAV Coalition, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, and the 

FAA is cooperating. We have tremendous support from across the 

general aviation community to get the word out that here is where 

the TFR is; stay out of the way. If there are firefighting operations 

going on, you cannot fly. 

Mr. KNIGHT. Right. And I think we have seen that. You know, 

we have had this type of activity for 50-plus years. It is just somebody put a camera on one and turned it from a RC to a UAS. And 

that is kind of the systems we are working on today. 

Recently, or in the last year and a half, they have released seven 

testing sites for UAS all over the country. My state did not get one, 

but they are in the works to get these new sites, these Excellence 

sites. Do you think that these testing sites are something that UAS 

need, or can we just test these things in all 50 states and we could 

probably flourish more? And the reason I say that is because CaliSBREP-219 with DISTILLER

15 

fornia did not get a testing site, although we do most of the testing 

in California. 

Mr. WYNNE. I would like to see better utilization of the test 

sites but I think it depends on what we are trying to get done. I 

think the challenge that we have got today is that we have only 

been talking about things essentially that are pretty low complexity types of operations. There are lots of things that can be 

done with this technology that are highly complex and we are sort 

of in a walk, jog, run situation. What we are encouraging the FAA, 

while they are finishing and finalizing the rules that are very low 

risk for under 500 feet, visual line of sight, daytime operations, et 

cetera, that they start looking at things beyond visual line of sight, 

extended line of sight. Operating under a bridge could actually be 

a beyond visual line-of-sight operation. That would require safety 

standards, if you will, that can only be set and can only be agreed 

to if they have been researched to the FAA’s satisfaction. I think 

the test sites are an opportunity to do that. 

Mr. KNIGHT. And Mr. Wynne, I am going to ask you my final 

question because it seems like you are a pilot. 

On the larger UAS—and most of the UAS are under 40 or 50 

pounds. I think that is probably 80 percent of the UAS in America 

are about that size—but the larger ones that are in the military, 

do you see that we need to change our kind of see-and-avoid process under 18,000 feet with chase planes, things like that? Do you 

think that we have gotten to a point that we can do those things 

and be in a safe arena for the rest of the air traffic? 

Mr. WYNNE. That is being determined now, and that is a good 

example of what I am talking about. The military has figured out 

how to safely operate manned and unmanned systems in theater 

together without incident, and in some cases, very cooperatively. So 

we can learn from them. They have real clear standards that can 

be adopted for the national airspace system. There are organizations that are working on that, including NASA. The FAA is participating in that process, and those are good examples of how we 

need to test things to everyone’s satisfaction, set those rules, and 

go forward from there. 

Mr. KNIGHT. Thank you very much. 

Chairman CHABOT. The gentleman’s time is expired. 

Mr. KNIGHT. I yield back. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you. 

If Ms. Clarke would not mind, before I call on her, the Wright 

Brothers were mentioned again, so I will just tell something I think 

is kind of interesting. Every state has two statues that are in the 

Capitol Building, most of them in the statutory hall. Ohio has 

President James Garfield and a fellow named Allen, who was a 

congressman, a senator, and a governor, and he was also a racist. 

It was during slavery times, and so he is being removed, and there 

was a contest. People in Ohio were asked who we wanted to replace 

him with, and the people who came in second were the Wright 

Brothers. And the one who won was Thomas Edison. So in the very 

near future you will see Thomas Edison’s statue over there. Was 

that not interesting? 

The gentlelady from New York, Ms. Clarke is recognized for five 

minutes. 

SBREP-219 with DISTILLER

16 

Ms. CLARKE. A bit of trivia, Mr. Chairman. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank our ranking member. I 

thank our panelists for taking the time to share your expertise 

with us today, and I would like to also welcome my fellow 

Brooklynite, Mr. Streem. Thank you for attending today’s hearing. 

I am fascinated by the advancements in UAS technology. The 

fact that we have entered the age of technologically advanced use 

of unmanned aircraft is very encouraging. Unmanned systems hold 

the potential to truly revolutionize our economy and way of life in 

this country in such areas as agriculture, news coverage, inspections, surveillance, data collection, mapping, and surveying photo, 

video, film production, and many other services. 

However, I also believe that we must address unanswered questions that this new technology brings to the forefront of safety in 

America’s skies. We must address the issues of authority, privacy, 

accountability, and transparency. It was interesting to hear how 

this technology has developed over the years and its potential as 

a growth industry and what we can do to assure that we can facilitate drone use in American airspace while keeping all forms of air 

travel and ensure privacy for all people. 

Having said that, Dr. McLain, when you speak of being able to 

go beyond line of sight for certain industries, my question is, how 

do we control and stabilize the aircraft beyond what our eyes can 

see, and what technology would need to be in place to ensure that 

we have control of the aircraft at all times given the challenges of 

cybersecurity and the liability inherent in commercial use? 

Mr. MCLAIN. So that is a good question. 

I think there are several technologies that can be brought to bear 

to enable beyond-line-of-sight flight. The control of the aircraft, or 

the stability of the aircraft, technology exists to do that. Current 

autopilot technology makes that possible, and of course, it is used 

in military applications all the time. 

You bring up the security of communications links. I think it is 

fair to say that most of the communication links used in commercial UAS applications, and even in some military applications, are 

not as secure as they could be. So there might need to be technology applied to make those communication links as they extend, 

especially beyond line of sight, secure. 

Other technology that could be brought to bear is sense-andavoid or detect-and-avoid technology, which would allow the aircraft to detect other aircraft in the airspace and to take appropriate 

measures to avoid other aircraft as they were encroaching. There 

is a variety of ways to do that. The NextGen system that is being 

proposed by the FAA utilizes ADSB to communicate the locations 

of all the aircraft in the airspace and that could be used for unmanned aircraft. Certainly, most robust would be to have the capability of each aircraft to detect the other aircraft in the air what 

we call noncooperatively. So they can do it without the cooperation 

of any network system or something like that. And in that case 

they would be probably using radar or machine vision sorts of techniques to detect the other aircraft. 

Ms. CLARKE. And the issue of liability, I raise that because baking in cybersecurity measures and liability now increases the cost 

SBREP-219 with DISTILLER

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of actually operating for a small business owner. Do you see this 

as being sort of undercutting the industry or just a necessity? 

Mr. WYNNE. I think for certain applications, the cybersecurity 

or the security of the communications link might be vital. There 

might be other applications where, whether it is due to the location 

of the flight and the lack of populated areas and so forth where it 

may not be necessary. 

Ms. CLARKE. Very well. 

Mr. Streem, what measures are your company taking specifically 

to ensure safety of not only your UAS, but aircraft in the skies that 

might be flying in the spaces where you are filming? 

Mr. STREEM. Sure. I mean, we have operating procedures that 

have been approved by the FAA. We cannot go above 400 feet. We 

have to file a COA. We have to file a NOTAM that pretty much 

notifies any other aircraft where we are, what we are doing. When 

it comes to a film shoot, the people on the ground are very well 

aware. There is typically a director and then there is a first AD, 

which is an assistant director. And that AD is in charge of saying, 

‘‘Okay, there is going to be a car that is going to go over a ramp 

and it is going to explode. Everybody look out for the explosion.’’ 

In this case it is, ‘‘There is going to be a drone flying in the sky. 

It is going to do this. Know about that.’’ 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. The gentlelady’s 

time is expired. 

The gentleman from New York, Mr. Hanna, who is the chairman 

of the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce, is recognized 

for five minutes. 

Mr. HANNA. Thank you. I am also a pilot. I am on the FAA Subcommittee, and I have the privilege to represent Griffiss Air Park, 

which is one of the six sites, so I would invite you all to come and 

visit and look around. It is a great place. Thirteen thousand feet 

of runway and a solid four seasons. 

Mr. Wynne, and everyone, one of the problems I have with all 

of this is UAVs are not new. They have been around the world for 

20 years. Japan has been using in agriculture for at least that long. 

Other countries have. This is a known quantity, and yet the FAA, 

as you pointed out, nine years behind on their rulemaking. So my 

feeling is a lot of this is we are blaming the victim because in this 

case all of you are so far ahead of the FAA in your development, 

in your needs, your usage, your opportunities to grow your businesses which you have all explained so beautifully. So the kind of 

underlying statement I hear is that a common—maybe with the exception is Mr. Wynne—complaint about the FAA in the process. 

And things like line of sight, which frankly do not work are practical. Licensing. You know, they backed away from wanting to use 

people with not just VFR but IFR licenses, all those kinds of silly 

things. 

And I guess I would like to ask your opinion about the process. 

I know there have been lawsuits the FAA lost. And the loss, was 

it against you, Mr. Streem? You remember that. It went to the 

court. The FAA lost jurisdiction because they abrogated the opportunity to make rules, and so they said this is not for you. 

SBREP-219 with DISTILLER

18 

I want, anybody, talk about the FAA and the urgency that, apparently their desire to keep things safe is overwhelming their ability to get their work done. What do you think of that? 

Mr. STREEM. Yeah. I would like to say a few words on that. 

We feel that the FAA, really it needs to take a risk-based approach to the regulations, and we are a big advocate of a concept 

that has been discussed, which is a micro UAS rule. So for small 

aircraft like ours under 4.4 pounds. We are in a different risk category entirely in terms of operations, and we are being held to the 

same standard now as these bigger, larger, more risky aircraft. 

And so it is a big challenge to us to get through the red tape and 

the extra cost and to live with some of the limitations that we do 

not feel are warranted for our class of operation. 

Mr. HANNA. The 174th flies predator drones between Syracuse, 

New York and Griffiss. They are going to start, I think, this month, 

with a manned plane following. Do you want to talk about this, Mr. 

Wynne? I mean, you seem more supportive of the FAA than the 

others, but maybe I am just imagining that. 

Mr. WYNNE. You are imagining it, Congressman. 

Mr. HANNA. Good, good. 

Mr. WYNNE. No, I do not mean to be disrespectful to you. We 

are the FAA. The bottom line is that I have promoted technologies 

that meet regulations my entire career and I have never seen a bureaucracy keep up with technology. It just does not happen. 

Mr. HANNA. It does not happen here. Apparently, it happens 

other places. 

Mr. WYNNE. Well, I think—— 

Mr. HANNA. We talk about next generation aviation. There are 

20 other countries that have it. 

Mr. WYNNE. You are right. And I think, you know, as long as 

we are focusing on the risk associated with the operation, we will 

be fine. I mean, the idea of an instrument-rated pilot having to 

keep up those kinds of requirements in order to fly under a bridge, 

even in a beyond visual line-of-sight circumstance, the risk there 

is actually very low, so we want to be focusing on the risk rather 

than the platform. If we are flying in Class A airspace above 18,000 

feet, that is a different matter. That requires understanding commercial rules, et cetera, et cetera. So I think it really is a function 

of getting the FAA to understand this is not a system—you cannot 

apply a platform-based system. 

Mr. HANNA. So you would agree with Mr. Gilkey then that they 

are just not using a risk approach that is practical in our world? 

Mr. WYNNE. I think we are moving in that direction. I see elements of that in removing—in basically saying under 500 feet, visual line of sight, you are basically able to fly with a knowledgebased test. That was a step forward. Not necessarily a great step 

forward, but now we need to know what knowledge-based means. 

And it gets back to some of the challenges that we have had where 

we do have people flying that do not have any knowledge. And so 

I think somehow we need to find a way to meet them in the middle. 

Mr. HANNA. My time is expired. Thank you very much. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you. The gentleman’s time has expired. 

SBREP-219 with DISTILLER

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The gentleman from Nevada, Mr. Hardy, who is the chairman of 

the Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations, is 

recognized for five minutes. 

Mr. HARDY. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

I kind of want to continue down some of the same lines that my 

colleague, Mr. Hanna, was going. We talk about how long this has 

taken, this process. We talk about education here today. But it 

seems like in this place here on the Hill that we have a way of— 

we want somehow a ‘‘one size fits all’’ unless it comes to something 

new. Then we want to make sure that you get some new regulations, you get some new oversight. 

In the industry that I am in, and I have been all my life, insurance aspects. You know what? In order to have something or do 

something in my business, sell it even, you have to have liability 

insurance before you can get it. 

Why are we reinventing the wheel? Does that seem like a logical 

thing that we just—if we are going to buy something, purchase 

something, you should have to be in the same aspects as all other 

business people utilizing it, not because you cannot afford it and 

the risk. 

The other question I would ask is does it seem like things like 

the knowledge part of this, you know, in my industry, there is a 

lot out there nationally. ‘‘Call before you dig.’’ You know, in my 

business, ignorance is not a sign of innocence. You go to jail, you 

get paid, you pay your fines. Somebody out there flying around in 

restricted airspace or doing things without that—does anybody care 

to comment on that thought process and why it takes us so long 

to get things done in this place every time we turn around? I will 

take anybody’s—— 

Mr. MCLAIN. Initially, I think part of the problem is that the 

FAA pursued a ‘‘one size fits all’’ solution to aircraft in the airspace, and while that makes sense for manned aircraft, I think, it 

does not make sense for unmanned aircraft where the spectrum of 

sizes and relative risk from the micro UAVs that we are seeing 

here or to the Predators or Global Hawks, there is such a broad 

spectrum that it does not make sense to regulate them all with the 

same rule. 

Mr. WYNNE. AUVSI is standing up an insurance program for 

UAS operators, so we are getting into that business. We are encouraging underwriters to come in and understand what is going 

on. Fundamentally, we are just at the cusp of this, and although 

Mr. Hanna pointed out that the technology has been around for 

some time, in some ways the insurance world is just understanding 

how. What is the risk associated with flying as a real estate agent 

versus flying as a construction person, et cetera, et cetera? There 

are a lot of different applications. I personally think that normal 

business rules are ultimately going to apply here. The insurance 

companies require certain things for flying an airplane that the 

FAA does not require. You know single engine land is single engine 

land. I could fly an airplane as a pilot but, you know, if the airplane has retractable gear, the insurance company is going to require you to do dual time with an instructor because they do not 

want you to land with the gear up kind of thing. 

SBREP-219 with DISTILLER

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So the insurance companies will actually come along, I think, in 

this instance, and we are hearing that from the underwriters as we 

stand up this program. And they will basically come up with solutions and understand, what are the additional requirements that 

we need to put in place so that we can insure you at an appropriate 

premium? 

Mr. HARDY. I would like to take a little bit different direction. 

My district, I represent—Nellis Air Force Base is in my district 

and the Nellis test range. I have talked to the folks out at the base. 

Today, they are not worried too much about it, but as progression 

goes on and we are one of those sites selected, and they worry. 

There is top secret information out there, that as things are able 

to go higher, they get more ability, that maybe some of that secrecy 

may not be available. Is there anything we can do to stop—assure 

that will never happen as being one of our testing areas? Not really. We will just say not really. But it is a question that needs to 

be answered. 

Is my time over? 

Anyway, one of the other issues that is big for our area and I 

want to confirm it again that the science is there, as you may or 

may not know, the Creech Air Force Base is in the test range. Most 

of those drone strikes that we have that we read about are from 

Creech on sites over 11,000 miles away. So the technology is there 

to fly that unmanned vehicle without somebody being able to see 

it because I do not think anybody can see from 11,000 miles away. 

But does the private sector have the ability to have that same technology today? 

Mr. MCLAIN. Absolutely. It is not military grade perhaps but 

the fundamental technology of flying beyond line of sight exists and 

it is not—it is well within reach of small business. 

Mr. HARDY. Thank you. I believe my time is expired. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you. The gentleman’s time is expired. 

The gentlelady from American Samoa, Ms. Radewagen, is recognized. She is the Subcommittee chairman on Health and Technology. 

Ms. RADEWAGEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Gilkey, in your written testimony, you noted that state and 

local governments are establishing an inconsistent patchwork of operating restrictions that will be difficult for small businesses to 

navigate. Can you elaborate on why state and local operating restrictions are a challenge for small UAS operators? 

Mr. GILKEY. Certainly. Again, we feel a number of these cases 

are motivated by reactionary public sentiment and not necessarily 

well founded on risk-based analysis, but to a small business, it is 

a real challenge financially and in terms of resources to get educated at every potential location that we might want to operate, 

what the local rules are. We are very much interested in uniform 

rules that we can apply nationwide. Now, that said, there are instances, like in the national capital region, where that is a no fly 

zone for drones, understandably. So there are site-specific exemptions that have to be implemented. We would like to see those vetted at a federal level to make sure that proper standards are applied and that the communication of those restrictions is easy to acSBREP-219 with DISTILLER

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cess. So annotations on aeronautical charts, for example, or 

NOTAM filings, or things that are readily accessible that we could 

educate ourselves quickly on what those regulations are, those restrictions. 

Ms. RADEWAGEN. Let me follow up. 

What sort of issues do you foresee in developing a standard 

across all states, including the outlying territories, who often have 

their own rules and regulations in regards to flight operations? 

Mr. Gilkey, follow-up question to you, sir. 

Mr. GILKEY. Well, as a small business, we have to make decisions every day on how to deploy our capital and our equipment 

and resources. So we will gravitate to areas where it is easier and 

more accommodating for us to do business. And my fear with the 

state and local restrictions is that it is going to create a situation 

of haves and have-nots as far as folks who can reap the benefits 

of the technology that we have to offer and my colleagues and those 

who cannot. 

Ms. RADEWAGEN. Thank you. 

And for Dr. McLain, you mentioned that the FAA’s Pathfinder 

Program, which is a collaborative effort between FAA and industry 

partners to research different types of operations including extended visual line-of-sight operations in rural areas, what is the 

benefit of this type of collaborative research-type program? 

Mr. MCLAIN. Well, it is an opportunity to test and try out applications under, I guess, more restrictive test conditions in the sense 

that, for example, in surveying the railroad track in New Mexico, 

one of the applications I believe that is being considered here is it 

is done where the airspace is restricted and there is not any probability of having accidents or the probabilities are certainly lowered 

by restricting the airspace and access to that airspace. So these are 

experimental demonstrations of the technology proving out that 

they can be done safely. 

Ms. RADEWAGEN. Dr. McLain, does this research program extend to the United States territories as well? 

Mr. MCLAIN. I am not aware of any activities in the territories 

outside of the United States. 

Ms. RADEWAGEN. Why not? 

Mr. MCLAIN. Oh, I do not think there is any reason that it could 

not. 

Ms. RADEWAGEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. The gentlelady 

yields back. 

The gentlelady from Michigan, Ms. Lawrence, is recognized for 

five minutes. 

Ms. LAWRENCE. Thank you, Chairman. 

First of all, being from Michigan, I wanted to recognize Aerius 

Flight LLC which was the first company in my state to get FAA 

approval of commercial application for drone photography and 

video graphics. 

Mr. Wynne, according to an industry survey, videography and 

cinema is expected to comprise 41 percent of the market by the use 

of drones by small businesses. What other types of small businesses do you anticipate using the unmanned aircraft in the next 

five to 10 years? 

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Mr. WYNNE. That list would take us most of the afternoon. 

Ms. LAWRENCE. Oh, okay. 

Mr. WYNNE. Happily. I think what we are seeing, we are in the 

process of looking and analyzing the Section 333 applications to 

date, and a very, very large percentage are small business, beginning with real estate, insurance folks. Obviously, wedding photographers across the board to the kind of services that Mr. Streem 

offers, because you can again use these platforms to put lots of different things on them, cameras being the most obvious for all of us. 

So I think there is almost an unlimited number of small business 

that can take advantage of this. Agriculture is a big chunk of what 

we see going forward as well. And of course, agriculture, there is 

large agriculture, but the vast majority of farmers are small business people, and in many instances, that is a good example of a 

low-risk operation that might even be beyond visual line of sight 

where a farmer is surveying their crops over a hill, again, over 

their own property, and very safely with various procedures in 

place if say a helicopter came into the area, things like that. 

Hopefully that answers your question, ma’am. 

Ms. LAWRENCE. Yes. You went into my next question, which is 

regarding the farmers and restrictions. As we look at all the industries or small businesses that can spin off from this industry, there 

are some real concerns about—you talked about a challenge, which 

was line of sight, but there also has been a lot of issues, and I 

serve on Oversight, about regulation. What type of restrictions 

should I put as a government on this industry based on my privacy 

rights, based on my opting out of maybe a delivery? There is a big 

issue about package delivery. Maybe I do not want you to come 

drop a box on my porch. What are some of the restrictions that you 

are hearing as these small businesses are looking at implementing 

this that we should have on our radar as an oversight government 

that will be sensitive to businesses growing in this industry? 

Mr. WYNNE. I guess my overall context would be let us not have 

solutions looking for problems. All of the laws that pertain to nuisance or privacy pertain to these platforms. So I think that is, you 

know, Fourth Amendment rights are Fourth Amendment rights no 

matter what the platform is, whether it is a manned helicopter or 

UAS. So I think that would be my first point. 

The second point is that as an industry, we are permitted to safe 

and responsible use of the technology. We are not going to be able 

to optimize this opportunity for the country without a sustained 

growth in utilization of the systems. And you have some small 

businesses here. We have many, many industries that are coming 

to us saying our constituents would like to use this technology both 

for small business and large to optimize and to increase the profitability of our operations. I think we should see how that goes before we start trying to anticipate every single problem that comes 

along, recognizing that the industry will be committed to addressing these problems as they emerge, otherwise, we will not have a 

sustainable business going forward. 

Ms. LAWRENCE. Thank you so much, and I yield back my time. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. The gentlelady 

yields back. 

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And we want to thank the panel for their very interesting and 

timely testimony here this morning and then now into this afternoon. I think the potential uses of commercial unmanned aircraft 

systems is virtually limitless and there obviously is a role for government to play in this, and that is going to slow things down. It 

always does. And so we will certainly encourage the FAA to get off 

the dime here to protect the rights of the public, but at the same 

time not be an obstruction to what could create potentially a huge 

number of jobs, and we certainly need to move in that direction in 

this country. 

So again, thank you very much. We appreciate your testimony. 

I would ask unanimous consent that members have five legislative days to submit statements and supporting materials for the 

record. 

And if there is no further business to come before the Committee, 

we are adjourned. Thank you very much. 

[Whereupon, at 12:14 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member Velazquez and members of 

the committee, thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in today’s hearing on unmanned aircraft systems. I am speaking on behalf of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems 

International (AUVSI), the world’s largest non-profit organization 

devoted exclusively to advancing the unmanned systems and robotics community. AUVSI has been the voice of unmanned systems for 

more than 40 years, and currently we have more than 7,500 memSBREP-219 with DISTILLER


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25 

1https://www.faa.gov/uas/nprm/ 

2http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#lsearchResults;rpp=25;po=0;s=%2522section%2528333%2522%252BFAA;fp=true;ns=true 3https://www.faa.gov/uas/legislative—programs/section—333/ 

bers, including many small business members that support and 

supply this high-tech industry. 

UAS increase human potential, allowing us to execute dangerous 

or difficult tasks safely and efficiency. From inspecting pipelines 

and surveying bridges to filming movies and providing farmers 

with aerial views of their crops, the applications of UAS are virtually limitless and offer a superior way to see what needs to be 

seen, in less time and at less expense. It’s no wonder businesses— 

small and large—are clamoring to use this technology. 

For years, AUVSI has been a leading advocate for the safe integration of unmanned aircraft into the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). We were delighted earlier this year when the Federal 

Aviation Administration published its long awaited proposed rules 

for the commercial and civil operations of small UAS (systems that 

weigh 55 pounds or less).1 These proposed rules are a critical milestone in the UAS integration process and bring us closer to realizing the tremendous societal and economic benefits this technology 

offers. 

Indeed, as the FAA has worked on these rules, much has already 

changed in the industry. Since Congress tasked the FAA with creating UAS regulations in 2012, the technology has gone from a specialized tool to a must-have business asset. The flood of commercial 

exemption requests to the FAA, in particular, shows that a mature 

UAS commercial market is waiting to be unleashed. 

In May 2014, the agency announced it would consider granting 

exemptions for certain low-risk commercial UAS applications under 

Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. 

Since then, the FAA has received more than 2,000 requests 2 and 

granted more than 700 3 exemptions to businesses looking to use 

UAS for precision agriculture; inspecting infrastructure; mapping 

and surveying; film, photo and video production; public safety or 

emergency response; and environmental inspection and regulation. 

Many of these exemptions illustrate the sweeping impact the industry is having on small businesses. AUVSI has looked at the first 

several hundred exemptions that have been granted; and according 

to our analysis, the vast majority of businesses receiving exemptions are small businesses. Just as smartphones and tablets revolutionized our economy over the past decade, UAS are transforming 

the way a number of industries operate, and are creating several 

new ones as well—from startups focused on developing new UAS 

platforms and components to entrepreneurs creating new business 

models that offer specific UAS services. Other small businesses are 

eager to use UAS to improve their existing services and extend 

their capabilities. 

Let me provide just a few examples: 

• North Carolina-based PrecisionHawk is a startup that 

manufactures UAS and cloud-based data collection software. 

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4http://www.faa.gov/news/press—releases/news—story.cfm?newsld=18756 5http://www.precisionhawk.com/ 

6http://www.faa/gov/news/press—releases/news—story.cfm?cid=TW251&newsld=17194 7http://finance.yahoo.com/news/warner-bros-uses-drone-on--the-mentalist--set--a-hollywoodfirst-144435648.html 8http://www.nwitimes.com/lifestyles/hone-and-garden/drones-the-next-frontier-in-real-estatemarketing/article—829bd032-10cb-518f-aee6-ff092e519a82.html 9 Ibid. 

10http://www.realtor.org/articles/updated-list-of-faa-approved-drone-operators-available-onrealtororg 

Its UAS platform, the Lancaster, is helping farmers survey 

crops and assisting insurance companies with claims following 

natural disasters. The company received a Section 333 exemption to fly its platform commercially in the U.S., and a number 

of its clients have also received exemptions, including AIG and 

USAA. PrecisionHawk was also one of three companies selected to kickoff the FAA’s Pathfinder Program.4 The company 

will help the FAA and industry research extended visual lineof-sight operations in rural areas. Founded in 2010, 

PrecisionHawk started with six employees and has now grown 

to more than 70 employees, with multiple offices in the U.S. 

plus offices in Canada, India and the United Kingdom.5

• Another example is Southern California-based Aerial Mob. 

The company was one of the first to receive a commercial exemption from the FAA.6 An innovator in UAS cinematography 

and technology, Aerial Mob is considered a pioneer in the development of UAS safety standards by the Motion Picture Association of America and the FAA. It performed the first ever 

FAA approved film production project with a major studio, 

Warner Brothers, on the set of the CBS TV show ‘‘The Mentalist.’’ 7 The company has since filmed Super Bowl promos for 

NBC, a promo for a new show on Amazon Prime, and even 

helped Apple film a commercial. 

• Then there is Douglas Trudeau. Based in Tucson, Arizona, 

Mr. Trudeau was the first Realtor to apply for, and receive, a 

Section 333 waiver from the FAA to use UAS in his real estate 

business.8 A Realtor for 15 years, Mr. Trudeau saw an opportunity to capture unique aerial perspectives for his listings— 

images that he couldn’t obtain from the ground. Mr. Trudeau 

now offers a how-to guide on his website for other real estate 

agents interested in applying for exemptions, and he is also a 

sought-after speaker.9 Since Mr. Trudeau received his exemption in January this year, the FAA has issued waivers to more 

than 200 real estate-related companies, according to the National Association of Realtors.10

These are just a few examples of the real-world, small business 

applications of UAS. And there are many, many more. 

The FAA continues to approve about 50 new commercial operations a week, a process that has been recently streamlined and expedited. However, this current system of case-by-case approvals— 

whether streamlined or not—isn’t a long-term solution for the 

many small businesses wanting to fly. In addition, the requirements for UAS operators are generally more onerous under the section 333 exemption process than the operator requirements conSBREP-219 with DISTILLER

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11http://www.auvsi.org/econreport 

templated in the draft UAS rules. It’s our view that a Realtor or 

a wedding photographer who wants to fly a lightweight platform 

for aerial photography shouldn’t have to master stalls in a manned 

aircraft or learn how to land a 2,000 pound Cessna. 

As an industry, we want to see the integration of UAS proceed 

and without any further delays. Once this happens, we will have 

an established framework for UAS operations that will allow anyone who follows the rules to fly. It will do away with the case-bycase system of approvals that currently exists, reducing the barriers to UAS operations. And importantly, the integration will establish rules for the commercial use of UAS so that small businesses from every industry sector can take advantage of this innovative technology. 

Given the technology’s potential, it is important that the FAA finalize the small UAS rules as quickly as possible. Moreover, Congress needs to pass—and the President needs to sign into law—an 

FAA reauthorization measure before the current authorization expires on September 30, 2015. 

This measure is critical for accelerating and expanding the commercial use of UAS and the most immediate way to encourage additional collaborative innovation between the numerous governmental and private sector stakeholders. AUVSI has been engaged 

with the committees and staffs leading the FAA reauthorization efforts in both chambers of Congress to address specific recommendations on how this can be accomplished. 

Equally as important, government and industry need to work together to permit expanded uses of UAS technology that pose no additional risk to the airspace system. For example, whether within 

the context of the rule, through the FAA reauthorization measure 

or by other means, we need to allow for beyond-visual-line-of-sight, 

nighttime operations and operations over heavily populated areas. 

Otherwise we risk stunting a still-nascent industry, and restricting 

the many beneficial uses of this technology. 

It’s not just the many uses of this technology that are at stake, but also the 100,000 jobs and $82 billion in economic impact that 

the UAS industry is expected to create in its first decade following 

integration.11 With the right regulatory environment, there’s no 

question these numbers could go higher. The benefits of this technology are broad, and we need to make sure we are doing all we 

can to support its growth and development. But the longer we take, 

the more our nation risks losing its innovation edge along with billions in economic impact. 

UAS technology is at an exciting and pivotal stage. The technology is developing rapidly, with new applications being highlighted nearly every day, much faster than our country’s capacity 

to develop the necessary regulations. We need to make sure that 

the FAA adopts the proper framework to keep up with this technology and is sufficiently resourced to work with industry stakeholders to perform essential research ensuring the safety of our airspace. 

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Thank you again for the opportunity to speak today. I look forward to answering any questions the committee might have. 

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Testimony of 

Michael J. Gilkey, CEO 

3D Aerial Solutions, LLC 

Before the 

U.S. House of Representatives 

Committee on Small Business 

Hearing on 

Taking Flight: Small Business Utilization of Unmanned Aircraft. 

July 15, 2015 

Good morning Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member Velazquez 

and Members of the Committee. It’s a pleasure to be here today to 

discuss an entrepreneur’s perspective on the emerging unmanned 

aircraft systems industry. 

Opening Comments 

Unmanned systems hold the potential to truly revolutionize our 

economy and way of life in the United States. Unmanned Aircraft 

Systems, or UAS, provide innovative new tools to the common man, 

which are being employed in uncommon ways. A new industry is 

being born resulting in the creation of many new small businesses. 

UAS enjoy wide coverage in the media. However, much of it is 

negative due to the irresponsible behavior of those who don’t know 

or don’t follow the rules. All of us in this industry are genuinely 

concerned about the proper use of UAS and want to see violators 

dealt with comprehensively and effectively. We understand and appreciate the need for rules. 

However, the highly restricted nature of the current interim 

rules and the slow pace of permanent rulemaking continue to stifle 

the ability of small business to capitalize on this market’s potential. Furthermore, the lack of permanent, uniform rules is spurring 

state and local governments to establish their own restrictions that 

are creating an inconsistent patchwork that will be difficult for 

small business to navigate. 

Small business people like me are slugging their way through 

the obstacles and bureaucracy to fulfill our dreams of creating this 

new industry. We are pioneers, determined to succeed and believe 

the country and world will be beneficiaries. I welcome the opportunity to be here today to inform the Committee of our story and 

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ment for small business, which also ensures safe operations and 

protects privacy. 

Creating a Startup UAS Company 

My colleagues and I created 3D Aerial Solutions, LLC in 2013 to 

leverage our expertise working with military unmanned aircraft 

and transition advanced technology know-how to solve civilian 

problems. We focus on applications that utilize: 

• Automated flight planning and aircraft control 

• Automated sensor control and data processing 

• Advanced man-machine interfaces 

We self-funded 3D Aerial through an initial round of owner-investment and began buying aircraft and equipment. We purchased 

a senseFly eBee aircraft because it is highly automated, easy to 

use, and precise. We are now a sales agent for this product line. 

We began flying under Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) 

‘hobbyist’ rules and became experts on this equipment. 

3D Aerial became an affiliate member of The Entrepreneur’s 

Center, a technology business incubator in Dayton, OH, to gain access to business advice and meeting facilities. This is proving to be 

a positive relationship from which we are pursing additional investment funding for capital investment and business expansion. 

Well-intentioned state economic development funding is now 

being deployed to help foster the creation of new businesses in my 

area, and includes a special interest in the UAS industry. However, 

it appears to be directed primarily to public colleges and universities and has been of no benefit to the startup of private companies like 3D Aerial Solutions. 

Getting our Wings 

Despite owning aircraft we were expert at flying, our small private business was not eligible to apply for a Certificate of Authorization (COA) in order to fly commercially. We were limited to demonstration flights and we began marketing future projects with no 

idea when we would be allowed to perform them. 

3D Aerial believes we in the UAS industry have a responsibility 

to reach out and educate the public of the benefits and restrictions 

associated with responsible UAS operation. To this end, we started 

the Dayton Drone Users Group for community outreach and completed a volunteer community service project, producing a promotional video for a local YMCA camp. 

We collaborated with the Ohio/Indiana UAS Center and Test 

Complex and were able to fly on a COA they established. For the 

most part, however, we spent a year and a half in a holding pattern awaiting authority to make money flying unmanned aircraft. 

3D Aerial submitted our request for a FAA Modernization and 

Reform Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112–95) Section 333 Exemption on October 14 2014. We received and responded to a FAA’s request for 

information in February and were granted an exemption on March 

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3, 2015. We were the 2nd company in Ohio to be granted a Section 

333 exemption. 

3D Aerial received the corresponding COA on March 23. It took 

over a month to get the registration for our eBee aircraft from the 

FAA, which came May 7th. With these steps complete, we are now 

authorized to legally perform commercial flying services, limited to 

only flights of the eBee aircraft and only for the agricultural applications that we requested. The blanket COA allows us to operate 

throughout the United States but is subject to a large number of 

significant restrictions. 

Benefits of UAS to Agriculture 

Precision Agriculture is an information and technology-based agricultural management system used to identify, analyze and manage variability within fields for optimum profitability, sustainability and environmental protection (ref. USDA web site). These 

practices allow producers to determine precisely what their needs 

are for fertilizer, herbicide insecticide and water at every point 

throughout a field. Modern farm equipment allows them to apply 

exactly the prescribed amounts at the required location to maximize yield. This saves farmers money, maximizes yield reduces environmental risk from over application of unnecessary chemicals. 

Aerial imaging using satellites and manned aircraft has been 

used for years in agriculture to augment on the ground techniques 

of soil sampling and crop scouting to support precision agriculture. 

Field techniques are highly accurate, but are labor intensive, time 

consuming and result in limited sampling. Aerial imaging offers 

greater coverage by sampling every point in the field at the camera’s image resolution. Small UAS like our eBee can fly much lower 

than manned aircraft and can offer extremely high image resolution (to less than 1 inch per image pixel). They can also operate 

very inexpensively and virtually ‘‘on-demand’’. 

What the Images Tell You 

The images record reflected sunlight at different wavelengths, or 

‘colors’. Different cameras are used to collect in different spectral 

bands (i.e. visible, near infrared and thermal infrared) to provide 

a variety of techniques for analysis. Multispectral cameras efficiently collect multiple colors simultaneously. 

Early in the season, farmers may be imaging to perform plant 

counting, so areas that don’t initiate can be replanted. Throughout 

the season, producers are looking for things like chlorophyll indication, plant stress, and moisture analysis. These conditions and 

more can be detected and localized in the field through the proper 

processing of aerial imagery using the various colors. 

Collected images are ortho-rectified and geo-registered so each 

point in an image can be tied to its corresponding location on the 

ground. Image processing software stitches these images together 

into high-resolution, wide area ‘maps’ called orthomosaics. Also, 3 

dimensional point clouds can be extracted through triangulation 

processing. Image analysis software applies algorithms to compute 

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vegetation indices and other health metrics. These can be used to 

create treatments to address various crop health problems. These 

prescriptions can be turned into a geographic ‘shapefile’ and loaded 

onto farm equipment for precision application of nutrients, etc. 

3D Aerial is now providing UAS flight services to perform aerial 

imaging of crops using the eBee. We also process the imagery into 

the desired image products, which are provided to the farmer. We 

are in the process of hiring more pilots and buying more aircraft. 

Permanent Rules 

The FAA has stepped up the issuance of the Section 333 exemptions and 714 exemptions approved as of the end of June 2015 (ref: 

Bloomberg News). 

The FAA issued its Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) for 

Operation and Certification of Small UAS on February 23, 2015. 

Implementation of final rules is not expected until mid 2016 at the 

earliest. While there are still many restrictions, the current rules 

as proposed will represent a big step forward for the small UAS industry. 

Positive aspects: 

• Pilot certification requirements are reduced. A full private 

pilot’s license is not required. 

• No FAA airworthiness certification required. 

• Aircraft performance limits accommodate operating range. 

These will foster broad range of commercial UAS applications. 

• Most of the remaining requirements are similar to what 

we operate under now. 

3D Aerial’s concerns as a small business operator: 

• Cost to gain FAA operator certification. The NRPM’s Regulatory Flexibility Determination estimates that out of pocket 

costs for small UAS operator to be FAA certified is less than 

$300. This estimate appears quite low. Specific training and 

testing requirements are currently unknown. 

• Phase in period for compliance with the new rules. Will 

currently approved operators (with private pilots with 2nd 

class medical certificates) be suddenly ineligible to perform 

their duties until new certification requirements are met? 

• Impact of state and local rules restricting UAS operations. 

Will our small business be forced to learn and comply with a 

wide variety of rules that change state-by-state and city-bycity? 

• Enforcement of regulations. Will FAA have the ability to 

prevent UAS businesses that don’t have the certifications and 

don’t follow the rules from operating and undercutting business from those of us who do? 

In Summary 

It’s exciting to be on the ground floor of the emerging commercial 

small UAS industry. If fostered through a reasonable balance of 

regulations to protect the national airspace and accommodating 

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economic policy, small businesses will be a significant engine of 

growth, delivering on the promise of new jobs and an expanded tax 

base that will benefit our economy. Furthermore, the advanced 

technical capability we offer today will continue to improve and 

provide growing value to our society. On behalf of my colleagues at 

3D Aerial Solutions, I thank you for allowing the opportunity to 

speak to you today. 

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Testimony of 

Brian Streem 

CEO 

AeroCine 

Before the United States House of Representatives 

Committee on Small Business 

‘‘Taking Flight: Small Business Utilization of Unmanned Aircraft’’ 

July 15, 2015 

Chairman Chabot, ranking member Velazquez and members of 

the committee—thank you for having me here today and for holding this critical hearing—it is my honor to be here before you. 

My name is Brian Streem and I am the co-founder and CEO of 

AeroCine, a drone company that uses Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 

(UAVs) to fly Hollywood cameras for movies, television, advertising 

and real estate among other things. 

I wish I could tell you that I am one of the world’s foremost 

roboticists or rocket scientists but for a hearing such as this, my 

experience as an artist and NYU Film School graduate is the real 

story. It just so happens, I might humbly add, I am building my 

own drones and consider this part of the new American Dream. 

The Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) industry worldwide has 

created a new generation of entrepreneurs who are innovating with 

small businesses that will reshape the global economy. Safe and responsible use of UAS will be ubiquitous across every sector of the 

economy. Unfortunately, this worldwide phenomenon is in jeopardy 

here at home in the United States due to the current state of regulation that prohibits commercial operations absent an exception. I 

consider myself lucky as AeroCine was among the very first U.S. 

companies to receive an FAA exception to operate commercially but 

we continue to have to seek permission to adapt and change to 

what clients need. It is expensive, time-consuming and frustrating. 

And yet, my passion for this industry has not waned. 

Three years ago witnessing a quadcopter flying a miniature camera capturing breathtaking videography. I was astonished and realized that this new technology would introduce the world to a new 

creative frontier, in addition to hundreds, if not thousands, of additional efficient and paradigm shifting innovations. The implications 

for filmmaking were readily apparent. I thought, if someone could 

put a small camera on a small multirotor, why could I not put a 

thirty-pound, high-quality cinema camera on a twenty-five pound 

multirotor? 

Film producers make extensive use of cranes, camera cars, and 

helicopters, all in an elaborate effort to get the best shot. This is 

sufficient and still viable in some cases, but drones are more cost 

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tial risks to human lives. A drone has the capability to replace all 

of these on film sets while reducing the risk to human life and enhancing the artistic pursuit. UAVs excel at showing us our world 

in new, fascinating and beautiful ways. What excited me about 

drones three years ago is the same thing the excites me today— 

at their very core, drones present a way to easily p0lace a sensor 

anywhere in three dimensional space. What could once only be 

dreamed can now be produced. 

What began as an idea for my business partner Jeff Brink and 

me to turn a quick profit in the world of ultra high-end production 

grew quickly and far exceeds what we had initially conceived. 

When we started the company we planned to simply purchase a 

drone to carry large cinema cameras. Finding no suitable system 

on the market, we drew from academic and aerospace circles to 

build a team of engineers and set out to create an aerial robotic 

system of our own. Today our work ranges from designing custom 

UAVs to operating UAVs for big budget films, television shows, live 

programs, and special events. We are proud to be bringing to consumers images and video that has never been imagined. 

The FAA’s efforts to integrate UAVs into the national airspace 

(NAS) are commendable in the face of extraordinary challenges. 

One notable step is the increased speed with which the FAA is 

awarding Section 333 Exemptions. The publication of a proposed 

rule for small drones is also promising, but we understand we may 

be a year or more away from a final rule, and even so, the proposed 

rule is in many respects too restrictive. We recognize the FAA prefers the incremental approach of crawl—walk—run. But right now 

regulation in the United States is sorely lagging behind the technology, which is sprinting. The industry in United States has been 

quick to create innovative hardware and software solutions ranging 

from auto-deploying parachutes to designing automated air traffic 

control (ATC) schemes. This technology exists to protect people and 

property in the NAS and on the ground and as a nation, we must 

be able to rapidly adopt these solutions. 

UAV operators in America are subject to the onerous task of satisfying bureaucratic hurdles which do little to enhance safety, such 

as securing certificates of authorization (COAs) for flights under 

400’ above ground level (AGL). Securing a COA can take anywhere 

from hours to weeks for a routine series of flights. 

A commercial UAV operator must also employ an FAA licensed 

ATP, Private Pilot or Recreational or Sport Pilot to fly their unmanned vehicles. The skills of piloting a passenger plane versus an 

unmanned vehicle are worlds apart—as the FAA acknowledges in 

its proposed rule—and this requirement does little to enhance public safety. 

Evidenced by many companies move to test in Canada and elsewhere, if we do not scramble to bring our regulations up to speed 

quickly our innovators will be eclipsed by entrepreneurs in other 

countries that have an established legal framework. 

We would like to see FAA expand its Section 333 Exemption authority to include flights over persons not involved with the particular UAS operation, flights closer than 500 feet from such perSBREP-219 with DISTILLER

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sons, and operations beyond the visual line of sight (VLOS). These 

various operations can be conducted safety because of the technological capabilities of the drone and because of operational limitations the FAA can impose. 

Even after the FAA issues its final rule for small drones, we believe the FAA should use its discretion to authorize operations beyond what the rules allow, provided the safety case can be made. 

This can be done through the Section 333 Exemption process, or 

some other process that avoids both another rulemaking or protracted type and airworthiness certification. 

AeroCine stands ready to assist this committee and the U.S. 

Congress in bringing this exciting technology to consumers and we 

thank you for your leadership in holding this hearing. 

Mr. Chairman, ranking member Velazquez and members of the 

committee, this concludes my opening statement. I look forward to 

answering any questions from the Committee. 

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Motion Picture Association of America 

Statement for the Record in the House Committee on Small 

Business Hearing 

‘‘Taking Flight: Small Business Utilization of Unmanned Aircraft’’ 

July 16, 2015 

The Motion Picture Association of America is excited to be on the 

forefront of small unmanned aircraft system innovation. The MPAA 

has worked closely with the Federal Aviation Administration and 

sUAS operators to secure cinematography as among the first approved commercial applications of unmanned aircraft in the United 

States. Incorporating sUAS in domestic film and television production is not only safely advancing aerial photography and helping 

tell stories in new and exciting ways. It is also starting to generate 

the economic benefits that the technology can bring our country by 

reducing costs and advancing the domestic aviation industry. And 

the sUAS operators that our industry turns to for this new and exciting application of technology are invariably small businesses. 

Such reliance on small businesses is typical for the film and television industry. Of the 99,000 businesses located in every state of 

the Union that make up the industry, 85 percent employ 10 or 

fewer people. 

As the voice of the motion picture, home video and television industries, the MPAA submits this statement on behalf of its members: Paramount Pictures Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., 

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Universal City Studios LLC, 

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. The film and television industry is currently employing 

sUAS under exemptions the FAA granted vendors to use the aircraft in scripted, closed-set filming. The controlled nature of our 

sUAS use greatly limits exposure to the general public, minimizing 

any safety or privacy concerns. 

When the first handful of sUAS operators received exemption approval from the FAA last fall, Senator Dodd, MPAA’s Chairman 

and CEO, called the announcement ‘‘a victory for audiences everywhere as it gives filmmakers yet another way to push creative 

boundaries and create the kinds of scenes and shots we could only 

imagine a few years ago.’’ The MPAA and its members look forward to the continued development of this budding sector of the 

film industry as we work with the FAA to establish formal rules 

allowing use of sUAS in domestic movie and television production. 

Filming with sUAS is already authorized abroad and we have 

now built a positive track record here at home, having completed 

a growing number of successful flights. One of the small businesses 

we work with that received an exemption from the FAA in September 2014, Aerial MOB, has already completed more than 60 

film projects to date totaling more than 1,200 successful flights. Advancing such domestic use will help keep production revenues from 

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leaving our shores, promote jobs, expand the U.S. aviation industry, and provide real-world experiences in controlled environments 

to help pave the way for other uses of sUAS. 

Looking ahead, we asked the FAA earlier this year in the formal 

rulemaking proceeding to allow additional flexibility, such as night 

flying, for filming in controlled environments as technology advances. We are in the initial stages of sUAS cinematography in the 

United States and, as use grows, the capabilities of the systems 

will likely evolve rapidly. 

We thank Chairman Chabot and Ranking Member Velazquez 

and the other members of the Committee for their attention to this 

matter. We look forward to continuing our work to further integrate the use of sUAS into domestic film and television productions, and are eager to see how the creative minds of our industry 

use the techno9logy to the benefit of audiences around the world. 

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