Construction 

Helicopters 

INCORPORAT E D 

25-May-2010 

^'^M-% 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Docket Management System 

400 7* Street SW 

A|tpomPL401 

• Woahington^ DC 20591^0001 

RE: Exemption No. 9525, Docket No. FAA-2007-0029 

On October 25, 2007, Construction Helicopters, Inc. received approval to use an alternate method of 

compliance in meeting the airborne radar requirements of 14 CFR § 135.175 (a) and 14 CFR §135.173. 

Those methods included the use of cockpit displayed satellite relayed weather of high resolution 

NEXRAD, cloud echo tops, lighting strikes, metars, speci reports, etc. 

At this time we have not changed or added aircraft to our Part-135 certificate and have not changed our 

operation since the previous approval ( other than a change of corporate address, however we are still 

served by the same FSDO ). We are in compliance with the five conditions and limitations listed on page 

two of your approval letter. Our FSDO has reviewed and approved our methods of determining whether a 

flight may be released in the event thunderstorms are forecast and these methods have been documented 

in our GOM. 

Based on the previous approval, the experienced gained in using these altemate methods and that no 

substantive changes in operations have occurred, we are therefore, requesting a renewal / reissuance of 

Exemption 9525. 

Sincerely, 

^li m Harris 

Chief Pilot 

Enc: 

1- FAA Exemption No. 9525,25-Oct-2007 

2- CHI - Initial Waiver Request - 07-Sept-2007 

3679 Bowen Road • Howell, Ml 48855 • 800-521-5130 • 800-521-4275 fax • www.construcfionhelicopters.com 

tev. 3, Ref. 10-Radar_Waiva-0521b.doc EXTERNA L LIF T SPECIALIS T SINC E 198 0 s26.May-10 (Sj 14:1 U Pg 1 of 1 
e 

USDepatment aOO independence Ave . S W. 

OfTransportOfiCXl Washington, DO. 20591 

Federal AvkiHon 

Administration 

OCT 2 6 2007 Exemption No. 9525 

Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2007-0029 

Mr. James W. Hanis 

Construction Helicopters, Inc. 

807 Willow Run Airport 

Ypsilanti,MI 48198 

Dear Mr. Harris: 

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your request for exemption. It transmits our 

decision, explains its basis, and gives you the conditions and limitations of the exemption, 

including the date it ends. 

The Basis for Our Decision 

On September 25,2007, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on behalf 

of Construction Helicopters, Inc. (CHI) for an exemption from § 135.175(a) of Title 14, Code 

of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) to the extent necessary to allow CHI to conduct flights under 

visual flight rules (VFR) with large transport category aircraft in passenger-carrying 

operations without airborne weather radar installed. 

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition 

in the Federal Register because the requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any 

delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to CHI. 

The FAA has issued a grant of exemption in circumstances similar in all material respects to 

those presented in your petition. In Grant of Exemption No. 5254 (copy enclosed), the FAA 

found that the costs of installing the radar equipment would far outweigh the benefits to be 

derived from its use and that an exemption to operate without it is warranted and will provide 

a level of safety equivalent to that provided by the regulations, subject to certain conditions 

and limitations. 
V 

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemptipji, I |ind that— ,. 

• they do not differ materially fi-om those presented by the petitioner in the enclosed grant of 

exemptipn; : ^ „ .' ..i ; . . ;' 

• the reasons stated by the FAA for granting the enclosed exemption also apply to the 

situation you present; and 

• a grant of exemption is in the public interest. 

Our Decision . . v 

Under the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701, which the FAA Admtefstiy»V"^^ 

has delegated to me, I hereby grant Construction Helicopters, Inc., an exemption from 

14 CFR § 135.175(a) to the extent necessary to allow CHI to conduct flights under VFR with 

large transport category aircraft in passenger-canying operations without airborne weather 

radar installed, subject to the conditions and limitations described below. 

Conditions and Limitations 

1. This exemption is limited to those CHI helicopters, which are configured for 9 or less 

passengers, listed in its operations specifications. 

2. This exemption is limited to operations conducted during day VFR weather conditions 

only. 

3. CHI may not release a flight when thunderstorms or other potentially hazardous 

weather conditions are reported or forecast along the routes to be flown for the period 

of time required for the flight. 

4. Notwithstanding Condition No. 3 above, CHI may release a flight under this 

exemption when thunderstorms are forecast in CHI's area of operation provided that 

CHI has a method of determining the occurrence of thunderstorms along its rq^t^s and 

the method is approved by the certificate holding FAA district office. Proc^tia^S to 

be followed, under an approved method to determi|ie th? presence of thiuiil^^iljas, 

must be included in the operations manual required by §135.2 K " 

5. No operations under this exemption may be conducted until the method and 

procedvires have been approved by the FAA district office and have been inpluded in 

the manual. 
6. CHI's flight must not transverse any area of knovm hazardoiis Weather conditions.' 

This exemption terminates on October 31,2009, unless sooner superseded or rescindeH;' 

Sincerely, 

^0^- &t;M^-^ 

jMe s J. ^lloug h (j 

Drrector, Fligh t Standards Servic e 

Enclosure 
September 25, 2007 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Docket Management System 

400 7'^^ St SW 

Room PL 401 

Washington, DC 20591-0001 

Dear Sir or Madam: 

Pursuant to 14 CFR §§ 11.15, 11.81 and other pertinent sections of 14 CFR part 11, 

Construction Helicopters, Inc. hereby petitions the Federal Aviation Administration for exemption 

from the Airborne Weather radar equipment requirement of 14 CFR § 135.175 (a). Construction 

Helicopters, Inc. request the Federal Aviation Administration to exempt Construction 

Helicopters, Inc. from 14 CFR §135.75(a) subject to the exemption being limited to VFR 

helicopter operations conducted during visual meteorological weather conditions with the aircraft 

configured for 9 or less passengers. 

Construction Helicopters, Inc. is the holder of Air Carrier Certificates JTAA383F, JTAG383F and 

JTAL383F. Construction Helicopters, Inc. has operated Sikorsky model 58T rotorcraft for the 

past 26 years. Our operations under the certificate are limited to VFR with 9 or less 

passengers. Construction Helicopters, Inc. has also operated the Sikorsky model S61N in 

excess of 1,300 hours since 2005 and is currently in the process of adding the Sikorsky model 

861N aircraft to the certificate subject to the same VFR only limitation. Additionally, we are 

limiting the passenger capacity to 9 or less passengers using an STC'd 9-passenger seating 

configuration. 

14 CFR § 135.175 (a) States no person shall operate large, transport category aircraft in 

passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather radar equipment is installed in 

the aircraft. Although our Sikorsky S-61N helicopter is considered a large transport category 

aircraft, we are limiting the number of seats in the helicopter to 9 seats. In accordance with 14 

CFR 135.411, we will maintain our helicopter under parts 91 and 43 of 14 CFR and §§135.415, 

135.416, 135.417, 135.421 and 135.422. Our S-61N helicopter will have an equivalent or 

greater level of safety than other helicopters limited to 9 or less passengers, as they are exempt 

from the requirements of 135.175 since they are not "large transport category aircraft". 

14 CFR § 135.173 exempts helicopters operating under visual meteorological conditions from 

the requirement to have either approved thunderstorm detection equipment or approved 

airborne weather radar equipment. Construction Helicopters, Inc. recognizes 135.173 does not 

apply to transport category helicopters. However, the Sikorsky S61N operated by Construction 

Helicopters, Inc. has an installed and operating satellite weather receiver capable of high 

resolution NEXRAD, cloud echo tops and lighting strikes displays in addition to Metars, TAFs, 

etc. With the capability of this equipment, an equivalent or greater level of safety will be 

achieved than for non-transport category helicopters carrying 9 or less passengers when 

operated under visual meteorological conditions. 

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A 

! • , Pursuant to 14 CFR § 11.87, Construction Helicopters, Inc. requests the FAA to waive the 

requirement for publication of this petition in the Federal Register. The granting of this 

exemption does not set a precedent. It is our understanding that exemptions to 135.175(a) 

have been granted to other certificate holders who have less weather detection and avoidance 

capability than our capabilities indicated above. (Reference Exemption #3487, #5254 and 

#8712) 

If you have any questions concerning this petition, please do not hesitate to contact me at the 

address below. 

Sincerely, 

James W. Harris 

Construction Helicopters, Inc 

jharris@ConstructionHelicopters.com 

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