ANNEX A: EXEMPTION REQUEST AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY 

SHOWINGS UNDER APPLICABLE RULES SUBJECT TO EXEMPTION

CME Engineering LP requests an exemption from the following regulations as well as any 

additional regulations that may technically apply to the operation of the eBee:

14 C.F.R. Part 21, Subpart H: Airworthiness Certificates 

14 CFR § 91.203(a)(1)

Section 91.203 requires all civil aircraft to have a certificate of airworthiness. Part 21, 

Subpart H, entitled Airworthiness Certificates, establishes the procedural requirements for 

the issuance of airworthiness certificates as required by FAR § 91.203(a). Given the size 

of the eBee, its very light weight (the maximum take-off weight is 1.7 pounds) and the 

limited operating area associated with its utilization, it is unnecessary to go through the 

certificate of airworthiness process under Part 21 Subpart H in order to achieve or exceed 

current safety levels. 

Such an exemption meets the requirements of an equivalent level of safety under Part 11 

and Section 333 of the Reform Act. The Federal Aviation Act and Section 333 of the 

Reform Act both authorize the FAA to exempt aircraft from the requirement for an 

airworthiness certificate, upon consideration of the size, weight, speed, operational 

capability, and proximity to airports and populated areas of the UAS involved. An analysis 

of these different criteria demonstrates that the eBee operated without an airworthiness 

certificate, under the conditions proposed in that exemption, will be at least as safe, or 

safer, than a conventional aircraft with an airworthiness certificate. A proprietary risk 

assessment for operations with the eBee, which demonstrates that assertion, is also being 

submitted to the FAA as part of this application. CME Engineering LP requests the FAA 

treat the eBee risk assessment as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 11.35(b) and not include this 

document in the public docket.

14 C.F.R. § 45.23 & 14 C.F.R. § 45.29: Display of marks; 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. 

Given the size of the eBee (wingspan of 37.8 inches), this requirement is impossible to 

match.
14 C.F.R. § 61.3: Requirements for certificates, ratings and authorizations

14 C.F.R. § 61.113(a) & (b); 61.133(a): Private Pilot Privileges and Limitations; Pilot 

in Command; Commercial Pilot Privileges and Limitations

The regulation provides that no person may serve as a required pilot flight crewmember of 

a civil aircraft of the United States, unless that person:

(1) Has a pilot certificate or special purpose pilot authorization issued under this part in 

that person's physical possession or readily accessible in the aircraft when exercising the 

privileges of that pilot certificate or authorization. However, when the aircraft is operated 

within a foreign country, a pilot license issued by that country may be used.

The regulation provides also that no person that holds a private pilot certificate may act as 

pilot in command of an aircraft for compensation or hire. Subparagraph (b) allows a 

private pilot to act as pilot in command of an aircraft in connection with any business or 

employment if: 

(1) The flight is only incidental to that business or employment; 

(2) The aircraft does not carry passengers or property for compensation or hire.

Given the safety features of the eBee and the fact that the missions are pre-programmed 

and monitored in real-time with a specific flight management software (eMotion), 

SenseFly proposes that operators of the eBee should not be required to hold a commercial 

or private pilot certification. Instead, operators should be required to:

 Have passed SenseFly’s training program for operation of the UAS. The 

manufacturer’s training program for operators has been already satisfactorily 

reviewed through the Application for Airworthiness Qualification Level (AQL) 3 

Airworthiness Release (AWR).

 Has the written test of the PPL

The equivalent level of safety will be achieved by having an operator trained by the AMA 

(or any FAA qualified entity) and SenseFly, and using the integrated features of the 

aircraft to maintain a high level of safety during the different missions.

14 C.F.R. § 91.7(a): Civil aircraft airworthiness

This regulation requires that no person may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in airworthy

condition. Should the exemption be granted allowing commercial operation of the eBee

without an airworthiness certificate, no standard will exist for airworthiness of the eBee. 

Given the size of the aircraft and the previous airworthiness assessments given to the 

eBee, among others:

 New Mexico State University: 

https://newscenter.nmsu.edu/Articles/view/10208/nmsu-uas-flight-test-centerconducts-ebee-airworthiness-assessment
 USACE New Orleans, who coordinated with the Department of Army and the 

FAA to obtain all authorizations required in order to operate the eBee UAS for 

levee system monitoring, documentation of construction progress, and extensive 

oblique photography of USACE structures & activities

An equivalent level of safety will be achieved by insuring compliance with the SenseFly 

manuals prior to each flight. 

14 C.F.R. § 91.9(b)(2): 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. CME Engineering LP assumes that the intent of this 

requirement is to ensure that flight manual information is available to the aircrew while 

operating the aircraft. CME Engineering LP requests an exemption to this requirement 

since the aircraft is not only too small to carry documentation, the documentation would 

not be available to the crew.

The equivalent level of safety will be achieved by keeping a hard copy of the flight 

manual in the eBee transportation box.

14 C.F.R. § 91.109(a) & 91.319(a)(1): Flight Instruction

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."

Flight instruction will be accomplished through an elaborated training program, using first 

the simulation mode of the flight management software eMotion. The equivalent level of 

safety during the training will be achieved by the manufacturer or authorized distributor 

providing the training and through the use of experienced and qualified operators familiar 

with the eBee.

14 CFR § 91.119: Minimum Safe Altitudes

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 aircraft will be 

operating at a maximum of 400 feet AGL, the eBee cannot comply with this requirement.

The equivalent level of safety will be achieved because the eBee will only fly over private 

property with the permission of the landowner. The operator will define before every

flight a working area radius and a flight area ceiling, preventing the eBee to go beyond the 

flight area.

The landowner and the persons who may be on the ground in the flight area will be briefed 

of the expected route of flight and the associated risks to persons and property on the 

ground. Due to the small size of the eBee and the material with which the eBee is built, the 
hazard to persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures is not comparable to manned aircraft 

and should be considered in granting the exemption. 

Moreover, the aircraft will not be operated over congested areas nor over any open-air 

assembly of persons. The aircraft will be operated at an altitude allowing, if a power unit 

fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.

14 CFR 91.121 – Altimeter settings

This section requires that each person operating an aircraft shall maintain the cruising 

altitude or flight level of that aircraft, as the case may be, by reference to an altimeter that 

is set, when operating below 18,000 feet MSL to:

 The current reported altimeter setting of a station along the route and within 100 

nautical miles of the aircraft;

 If there is no station within the area prescribed in paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this 

section, the current reported altimeter setting of an appropriate available station;

 In the case of an aircraft not equipped with a radio, the elevation of the departure 

airport or an appropriate altimeter setting available before departure.

To provide an equivalent level of safety, the eBee autopilot calculates the reference 

altitude (ground level) with the on-board GPS during the pre-flight tests. The GPS and 

barometer data are merged with respect to their respective precisions. The GPS provides 

reliable information to correct potential barometric bias, while rapid variations in altitude 

are detected through the barometer. Hence, barometric bias induced by environmental 

factors is rejected.

14 C.F.R. § 91.151(a): 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.

Given the area of operation for the eBee, Blackwell Group believes that an equivalent 

level of safety is already achieved with the specific procedure preventing the eBee to 

accept a take-off order is the battery level is below a given value. Moreover, SenseFly has 

integrated “low” and “critical” battery level warnings and implemented a “return to 

Home” (and “Go Land”) actions in these situations.

14 C.F.R. § 91.203 (a) & (b): Carrying Civil Aircraft Certification and Registration

This regulation provides as follows:

 No person may operate a civil aircraft unless it has an appropriate and current

airworthiness certificate.
 No person may operate a civil aircraft unless the airworthiness certificate

required by paragraph (a) of this section or a special flight authorization issued

under §91.715 is displayed at the cabin or cockpit entrance so that it is legible to

passengers or crew.

The eBee weighs only 1.7 pounds (max take-off weight). As such, there is no ability or 

place to carry certification and registration documents or to display them on the UAS. In

addition, there is no pilot or passengers on board the aircraft.

To obtain an equivalent level of safety and meet the intent of 91.203, CME Engineering 

LP propose that documents deemed appropriate for this aircraft by the FAA will be colocated with the operator at the ground control station in the eBee box and available for 

inspection upon request

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 - 91.417) - 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 Parts 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. Section 91.409(a)(2) requires an 

annual inspection for the issuance of an airworthiness certificate. Section 91.417(a) 

requires the owner or operator to keep records showing certain maintenance work that has 

been accomplished by certificated mechanics, under Part 43, or licensed pilots and records 

of approval of the aircraft for return to service.

Blackwell Group proposes that the maintenance of the eBee will be accomplished by the 

owner/operator according to the maintenance manual, provided by SenseFly. Blackwell 

Group requests the FAA treat the eBee training program as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 

11.35(b) and not include this document in the public docket.

An equivalent level of safety will be achieved because the eBee is small in size, it is not a 

complex mechanical device, it will carry no external payload, and it will operate only in 

restricted predetermined areas. Moreover, the operator is the person most familiar with the 

aircraft and is best suited to maintain the aircraft in an airworthy condition and to ensure 

an equivalent level of safety. Finally, before every flight, the eBee runs automatically a

sequence of pre-flight tests to make sure that every sensor and every critical part is 

running properly. If a problem is detected, the eBee will not be able to be switched-on and 

a message error is displayed on the main screen of 

The flight management software. The operator can then refer to the maintenance manual 

to troubleshoot this issue. Several parts of the eBee are easily interchangeable (propellers, 

wings), which allows the operator to make sure the wings and propulsion system are

always airworthy when a mission is initiated.
ANNEX B: ACADEMY OF MODEL AERONAUTICS SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/105.pdf

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/540-D.pdf

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/560.pdf