Photobird LLC

2494 S Hi Dry Circle

Coalville, UT 84017

970.404.0963 

robscholdan@gmail.com

March 5, 2015 

U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations

West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington, DC 20590

Dear Sir or Madam:

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the Reform 

Act), Photobird, LLC (the operator) and Robert Scholdan and Jerral Rydman (the 

applicants and co-owners) hereby apply for an exemption from Federal Aviation 

Regulations (FARs) detailed below to allow for commercial operations of a DJI Phantom 

2 four rotor UAS with an attached DJI H3-3D Gimbal Mount holding a GoPro Hero 3 

(Phantom2) for the purpose of aerial photography and video for a variety of industries. 

As the Reform Act allows the FAA to “establish requirements for the safe operation of 

such aircraft systems in the national airspace system”, Photobird’s use of the Phantom 2 

will provide the following benefits and enhance or provide an equivalent level of safety. 

1. The Phantom 2 has a maximum takeoff weight of less than 3 pounds and thus offers 

a lightweight, small and compact video platform compared to manned aircraft. 

2. Jerral Rydman, co-applicant, a licensed FAA pilot with a Commercial grade pilot 

certificate will be the PIC (Pilot in Command) of all of Photobird’s Phantom 2 

operations. 

3. The Phantom 2 offers significant safety, noise, emission, security and environmental 

benefits not available to larger manned aircraft. 

4. The Phantom 2 has numerous safety features such as Failsafe mode, automatic 

landing should signal between PIC and UAS be interrupted, GPS based altitude and 

distance locks, Flight Limits function and low battery warnings. We feel that these 

features addressed in more detail below and in the Phantom 2 User Manual provide 

an equivalent level of safety. 

5. The PIC, Jerral Rydman with his Commercial grade pilot certificate and the Visual 

Observer (VO), Robert Scholdan with his Known Traveller Number and Global 

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Entry Card have been vetted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) 

and pose no threat to national security. 

6. Operations utilizing the Phantom 2 will provide a benefit to the general public and 

serve the public interest by providing the service of aerial photographic images and 

video to numerous businesses and individuals for considerably less than the previously 

only available option of utilizing manned aircraft at an equivalent level of safety. 

The Aircraft, Operations and an Equivalent Level of Safety 

1. The safe operation of the UAS will be the first priority before, during and after every 

operation. 

2. The UAS pilot will be an FAA licensed commercial grade airman and will be 

considered the PIC wether flying or supervising and will be responsible for the safe 

operation of the UAS at all times. 

3. The DJI Phantom 2 has a maximum takeoff weight of 1300 grams or approximately 

2.9 pounds. It has a diagonal length of 350mm and a maximum speed of 15 meters 

per second. 

4. The UAS utilizes GPS location and is controlled by a 2.4 GHz transmitter. 

5. All UAS operations will be conducted at Visual Line Of Sight (VLOS) at no more 

than 400 feet AGL. 

6. No UAS operations will be conducted within 5 NM of an airport. 

7. No UAS operations shall occur over densely populated areas, large assemblies of 

people, stadiums, government buildings, power lines, or major roads. 

8. All nonparticipating persons shall be a minimum of 500 feet from the UAS. 

9. If a nonparticipating person comes within 500 feet of the UAS, flight operations will 

cease immediately. 

10. All UAS operations shall take place during daylight hours under conditions 

equivalent to Visual Flight Rules (VFR) with the UAS no more than 3/4 NM from the 

PIC. 

11. All UAS operations will have a PIC and a Visual Observer (VO) present and all 

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

12. The UAS will yield to all manned aircraft at all times. 

13. All required permits and permissions will be obtained from local and state 

government should they be required. 

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14. A pre-flight inspection by the PIC will be performed prior to each flight to assure that 

the UAS is safe for flight. A post-flight inspection will also be performed as an added 

level of safety. An aircraft check will also occur after every two hours of flight. See 

Appendix B for aircraft checklist. 

15. At no time shall the UAS be operated with missing or manufacturer unapproved parts, 

or in any condition that could pose a hazard to any other aircraft or structure or 

person on the ground. 

16. Prior to all UAS operations a pre-flight meeting will be held by the PIC to determine 

the parameters of flight in a given location, any hazards present, weather conditions, 

safety procedures at the specific location and approximate duration and route of 

flight. 

17. The PIC will have accumulated and accurately logged a minimum of 25 hours total 

time as a UAS rotorcraft pilot with a minimum of 10 hours as a UAS pilot with a 

multi-rotor UAS and 5 hours as a UAS pilot operating the same make and model of 

UAS to be used for operations under the exemption. 

18. The Phantom 2 UAS will utilize GPS location, auto return home and will never be 

operated at below 20% batter capacity. 

The DJI Phantom 2 UAS is a small and safe sub 3 pound plastic and composite aircraft 

utilizing four propellers driven by a 5200mAh, 11.1V, LiPo smart battery with an average 

flight time of 17-18 minutes. The remote control/transmitter operates at 2.4 GHz. The 

aircraft’s software can be calibrated to limit both AGL and distance from the transmitter. 

The aircraft will automatically return to point of origin or descend in place should signal 

with the transmitter be lost. The UAS is unmanned, operates at low altitudes, does not 

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

payload capacity and short flight time, thus significantly reducing current risk levels 

involved with utilizing manned aircraft for aerial photography. 

Additionally, past purchasers of aerial photography have had to contract with manned 

aircraft operations at a significant expense. Photobird’s UAS operations will provide a 

public benefit in allowing more people to access aerial photography images and video at a 

significantly lower price and in the process we will be providing that data at a greater or at 

least equivalent level of safety as compared to similar manned operations. 

It is the applicants belief that the small size of the Phantom 2 UAS, the basic operating 

parameters outlined above, the specific exemptions discussed below, the fully trained, 

certified and vetted crew and the equivalent level of safety provided at a much lower cost 

to the general public will allow the FAA to grant an exemption to Photobird LLC for 

commercial UAS aerial photography operations under the Reform Act of 2012. 

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The exemption requests follow below as well as Appendix A and Appendix B. The DJI 

Phantom 2 User’s Manual will be sent as a separate attachment. 

Sincerely, 

Robert Scholdan and Jerral Rydman 

Photobird LLC 

2494 S Hi Dry Circle 

Coalville, UT 84017 

970.404.0963 

robscholdan@gmail.com

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EXEMPTION REQUESTS AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY

Photobird LLC, requests an exemption from the following regulations as well as any 

additional regulations that may technically apply to the operation of the Phantom 2 

UAS.

14 CFR Part21, Subpart H: Airworthiness Certificates

This part establishes the procedures for the issuance of an airworthiness certificate.

While the FAA continues to work to develop airworthiness standards for UAS, we

request an experimental certificate be issued for the UAS operated by the applicant

under either or both of the following provisions:

21 .191 Experimental certificates.

Experimental certificates are issued for the following purposes:

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

equipment, new aircraft installations, new aircraft operating techniques, or new uses for

aircraft.

(b) Showing compliance with regulations. Conducting flight tests and other

operations to show compliance with the airworthiness regulations including flights to

show compliance for issuance of type and supplemental type certificates, flights to

substantiate major design changes, and flights to show compliance with the function 

and reliability requirements of the regulations.

Since the experimental certificate can be used for commercial purposes such as market

surveys, sales demonstrations, and customer crew training, we would expect that an

experimental certificate would permit our commercial purpose as well.

The aircraft will not carry persons or property and will only fly under strict operational 

requirements. As the Phantom 2 UAS also carries no combustible fuel, weighs less than 

3 pounds and is constructed primarily of plastics and composites, we propose the UAS 

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

within similar parameters.

If an experimental airworthiness certificate is not appropriate for this application, then we

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

airworthiness certificate in general, citing the equivalent level of safety outlined in the

previous paragraph.

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14 CFR 91.203(a) & (b) Civil aircraft: Certifications required.

The regulation provides that an airworthiness certificate, with the registration number

assigned to the aircraft and a registration certificate must be aboard the aircraft.

Additionally, subparagraph (b) provides that the airworthiness certificate be "displayed at

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

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

not carry a crew, we propose the following in order to meet the intent of 91.203 and 

provide an equivalent level of safety. All documents deemed appropriate by the FAA for 

this aircraft will be located at the operational ground station for each flight in proximity to 

the PIC and VO and will be available for inspection on request. In order to identify the 

aircraft, we propose to use the manufacturers model and production codes located on 

the aircraft as well as appropriate registration numbers and the telephone number of the 

manufacturer and Photobird LLC affixed to the aircraft as well. Should the FAA deem 

appropriate, we will also affix the word “EXPERIMENTAL” in the largest possible 

lettering given the size of the UAS, as discussed further below.

14 CFR 45.23 Display of marks; general and 45.29 Size of marks.

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

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

the word "EXPERIMENTAL" in letters at least 2 inches high near the entrance to the

cabin, cockpit, or pilot station. 

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

number and is of such small size, we propose to affix the word “EXPERIMENTAL” in the 

largest possible lettering appropriate for the aircraft. Additionally, for each operation the 

ground station will be clearly identified with a banner containing the words “UAS Ground 

Station” that will be of appropriate size to be seen by any observer of the aircraft 

operations. The ground station will also have all registration and identity documents 

relating to the UAS.

14 CFR 91.9 Civil aircraft flight manual, marking, and placard requirements.

This regulation provides that no person may operate an aircraft unless a current,

approved flight manual is in the aircraft. The intent of this requirement is to ensure that

flight manual information is available to the aircrew while operating the aircraft.

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

size, carry the flight manual. To meet an equivalent level of safety, we propose to have 

the current manufacturers flight manual and the Photobird flight manual at the 

operational ground station of each flight, available to both the PIC and VO. 

14 CFR 91.109 Flight instruction; Simulated instrument flight and certain flight

tests.

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

flight instruction unless that aircraft has fully functioning dual controls." 

The controls for the UAS do not currently have a set of fully functioning dual controls. If 

a UAS pilot is being trained, the pilot performing the training would be directly 

supervising and could take over the controls from the pilot in training if the need arose. 

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This would be similar to the technique of a "throw-over type" control wheel in some fixed 

wing aircraft. We feel that this technique meets the intent 91 .109 and provides an 

equivalent level of safety.

 

14 CFR 91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.

The regulation provides that over sparsely populated areas the aircraft cannot be

operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

Since the UAS will be operating at a maximum 400 feet AGL, we cannot comply with 

this requirement and thus ask for an exemption. In order to provide an equivalent 

level of safety, we propose the following.

A. The UAS will only be operated within VLOS of the PIC and VO at a maximum 

range of 3/4 NM from the ground station.

B. A preflight safety risk assessment will be completed prior to each flight to ensure 

the UAS is in a condition for safe flight and that the planned operation can be 

completed safely. Photobird’s Flight Manual and Pre-Flight Checklist is included 

as Appendix A and Appendix B.

C. The UAS will not be operated within 5 NM of any airport.

D. The UAS will only operate over private property with the approval of the owner of 

that property.

E. The UAS will not operate over any open air assemblies of people, congested or 

crowded areas, or within 500 feet of any nonparticipating person.

Overall, we believe that the above restrictions and the UAS’s small size, light weight, low 

maximum speeds, and high degree of maneuverability and stability combine to provide 

an equivalent level of safety compared to manned aircraft.

14 CFR 9l.l21Altimeter settings.

The regulation provides that aircraft shall maintain cruising altitudes by reference to an

altimeter setting available within 100 nautical miles of the aircraft.

The UAV will always be flying below 400 feet AGL within VLOS of the PIC and VO that 

will provide separation from terrain, structures and other aircraft. Also, the UAS will 

continually transmit an AGL reading back to the controller at the ground station and the 

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

safety. 

14 CFR 91.151 Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions.

The regulation provides that no person may begin a flight in an airplane under day-VFR

conditions unless there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and to

fly after that for at least 30 minutes.

We feel that the intention here is to provide a reserve of fuel to remain aloft should a 

landing be delayed or the landing point changed. The UAS is smart battery powered 

and continually transmits battery charge information back to the ground station to be 

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

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battery shows 20% remaining capacity. We feel that this combined with the fact that the 

UAS will have a maximum range of 3/4 NM from the ground station provides an 

equivalent level of safety.

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 -91.4171- Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, and

Alterations.

The regulation provides that the operator is primarily responsible for maintaining the

aircraft in an airworthy condition, including compliance with part 39 and 43. Paragraphs

91.407 and 91.409 require that the aircraft be "approved for return to service by a person

authorized under 43.7" after maintenance and inspection.

We propose that the PIC perform maintenance and inspection and “be authorized to 

approve the aircraft for return to service.” As provided for in Appendix A, the PIC will 

inspect the aircraft prior to every flight to ensure it is in airworthy condition. A 

maintenance check will also be performed after every 2 hours of flight. Any general 

maintenance and repair or replacement of components will be completed by the PIC 

following the manufacturers recommendations and documented in accordance with 

91.417. In any case where the UAS cannot be returned to service by the PIC, or is 

suspected to be unsafe, the UAS will not be operated until returned to all manufacturer 

specifications. We feel that due to the simplicity, size, robustness and construction of 

the aircraft. the PIC can assure an equivalent level of safety.

8900.227 Paragraph 16(cXa) PIG Medical. and Paragraph 16(eX1) Observer

Medical.

This policy provides that both the PIC and observer must have a valid FAA second-class

medical certificate issued under part 67 in order to perform as a pilot or observer.

We feel that requiring the PIC and VO to meet the same medical requirements as a 

commercial pilot carrying passengers in a large aircraft is an unnecessary burden. 

However, in our case, the PIC is a commercial grade airman with the appropriate 

medical certificate, so we would ask for a waiver regarding the VO’s medical certificate 

only.

Since the UAV is of small size, unmanned and required to be in VLOS of the PIC and 

VO at all times and given the highly unlikely scenario of both the PIC and VO becoming 

incapacitated simultaneously, the PIC’s medical certificate should be sufficient. 

Furthermore, given the aircrafts auto return home feature and low operating altitude, we 

feel that the above provide an equivalent level of safety. We propose that the medical 

requirements for the VO be vision corrected to 20/20 and a valid state issued driver’s 

license. 

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APPENDIX A

PHOTOBIRD FLIGHT MANUAL

FLIGHT PARAMETERS AND RESTRICTIONS

A. The PIC will be an FAA licensed airman with a Commercial Pilot certificate and 

associated medical certificate or the UAS pilot will be directly supervised by an FAA 

licensed airman with a Commercial Pilot certificate and associated medical certificate.

B. The PIC will have accumulated and logged a minimum of 25 flight hours as a UAS 

rotorcraft pilot and a minimum of 10 hours logged as a UAS pilot with a multi-rotor UAS 

and 5 hours as a UAS pilot operating the same make and model of UAS to be used for 

operations under the exemption. A current logbook of all training flights and all flight 

operations will be at the ground station during all operations.

C. All flights will occur in FAA Class G airspace at no more than 400 feet AGL and no further 

than 3/4 NM from the PIC.

D. All operations will utilize a PIC and VO with the PIC and VO able to communicate verbally 

at all times.

E. All operations will occur only during daylight hours and in weather conditions equivalent to 

VFR.

F. All operations will occur at VLOS from the PIC and VO.

G. The PIC and VO will have a pre-flight meeting at the site of the operation just prior to the 

flight to assess weather, area of operation, topography, flight time, route, hazard 

mitigation and overall operational and safety parameters. Also during this meeting, the 

pre-flight aircraft checklist (see Appendix B) will be implemented.

H. No flight operations shall occur within 5 NM of an airport, nor shall flight operations occur 

over open assemblies of people, congested roadways, densely populated areas, air 

shows, or other restricted areas.

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I. The UAS will always operate at a minimum of 500 feet from any nonparticipating (nonessential flight personnel) persons and UAS operations shall cease should a 

nonparticipant be closer than 500 feet to the UAS.

J. All operations will be conducted over private property with the full permission of the 

property owner and the property owner will be briefed as to the flight parameters.

K. Flight planning will include the termination of the flight with 20% battery remaining, as 

determined by the data link between the UAS and ground station.

L. The UAV will at all times give way to manned aircraft.

M. Prior to every flight, a highly visible banner with the words “UAS Ground Station” will be 

placed at the site of the ground station to allow an outside observer to determine the 

location of the UAS’s origin and command point.

N. All permits required by state and local governments will be obtained prior to any 

operations.

O. No flight operations will occur without a successful pre-flight inspection by the PIC before 

each flight to determine that the UAS is in a condition for safe flight.

P. At the conclusion of each flight a post-flight inspection will be done to assess the 

condition of the UAS.

Q. A full pre-flight check of the aircraft will be performed after every 2 hours of flight.

R. Replacement of parts shall only be done according to manufacturer’s instructions. 

S. All flight operations will be logged in a flight logbook.

T. All maintenance done and inspections performed will be lodged in a maintenance log.

U. Check for software updates weekly and upload to UAS as needed to continually keep the 

UAS software as current as possible.

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APPENDIX B

PHOTOBIRD PRE-FLIGHT AIRCRAFT CHECKLIST

1. Inspect all propellers for proper tightness and that they are free of cracks, dings, chips 

and excessive wear.

2. Review Photobird Flight Manual.

3. Review manufacturer’s user manual.

4. Inspect all wiring and motors.

5. Inspect the airframe for cracks or damage.

6. Inspect battery voltage of UAS on-board battery and Remote Controller/Transmitter 

battery to ensure there is sufficient energy in both systems for safe flight.

7. Recalibrate compass according to manufacturer’s instructions.

8. Always turn on Remote Controller/Transmitter before turning on UAS battery.

9. Ensure that a link between Transmitter and UAS is established and that GPS link is 

established.

10.Engage throttle, lift aircraft off the ground and verify the aircraft responds properly to all 

inputs and hovers accurately. 

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