AFS

- 13

- 209

- E April 19, 2013

Exemption No. 5210 M Regulatory Docket No. FAA

- 200 1

- 8870

Mr. W. Michael Radoslovich Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory

— Flight Facility

244 Wood Street Lexington, MA 02420

Dear Mr. Radoslovich :

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your petition to extend Exemption No. 5210

, as amended. It explains the basis for our decision, describe s its effect, and lists the conditions

and limitations

.

The Basis for Our Decision

By letter dated February 5, 2013 , you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

on behalf of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for an extension to Exemption

No. 5210, as amended . That exemption from § 91.319 (c) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) allows MIT to operate over densely populated areas or in congested airways using the following aircraft having experimental airworthiness certificates :

N105TB Gulfstream II N404PA Boeing 707

N448TB Dassault Falcon 20

N20NY Dassault Falcon 20

N63AR DeHavilland Twin Otter DHC

- 62

In your petition, you indicate that there has been no change in the conditions and reasons relative to public interest and safety that were the basis for granting the original exemption.

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

in the Federal Register beca use the requested extension and amendment to the exemption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to

MIT

.

Our Decision

The FAA has determined that the justification for the issuance of Exemption No. 5210

, as amended, remains valid with respect to this exemption and is in the public interest. Therefore, under the authority provided by 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701, which the FAA Administrator has delegat ed to me, I grant your petition, subject to the following conditions

and limitations below.

Conditions and Limitations

1. Operations under this exemption are limited to contracts with agencies of the United States Federal Government, such as the Department of Defense.

2. Before all initial operations conducted under each new contract or amendment to an existing contract described in C ondition No. 1, the following information must be

submitted to the FAA Eastern Region Flight Standards Division (A EA

- 200)

—

a. Scope of the opera tion, that is , a general description of the purpose, duration, geographic location, type of aircraft, modification to those aircraft, altitudes, and airspeeds anticipated, and why the oper ation is in the public interest; and

b. Name, address, and telephone number of the contracting agent of the Federal Government agency administering the contract.

3. Operations under this exemption are limited to aircraft initially certificated as standard category.

4. All aircraft must be listed with an approval for use by the F AA Manufacturing Inspection Office (ANE

- 180), New England Region h eadquarters, 12 New Englan d Executive Park, Burlington, Massachusetts 01803, and the Boston Flight St andards District Office (FSDO ), One Cranberry Hill

, Suite 402, Lexington,

Massachusetts 0 2421

- 7394, before the initial flight under this exemption or each

time an aircraft is added to or deleted from the list. The petitioner shall mail a copy of this exemption to both ANE

- 180 and the Boston FSDO.

5. Before the operation under this exemption, all proposed modifications to aircraft

must be submi tted to both ANE

- 180 and the Boston FSDO for FAA approval.3

6. MIT must obtain revised operating limitations issued in the aircraft listed for the airworthiness certificates issued for each aircraft covered by t his exemption, as amended, to continue conducting operations under the exemption.

7. Only personnel and equipment essential to the flight may be on board during operations under this exemption.

8. No aircraft may be operated under this exemption until it has bee n flight tested outside congested airways and not over densely populated areas and has shown

that

—

a. The aircraft is controllable throughout its normal range of speeds and throughout all t he maneuvers to be executed;

b. The aircraft has no hazardous operating c haracteristics or design features; and

c. All flightcrew personnel have been thoroughly briefed concerning the aircraft modification, flight test in detail, and any changes to the aircraft’s flight characteristics. Additionally, changes outside the aircraft’ s performance envelope specified by the FAA

- approved flight manual must be placarded.

9. Notwithstanding the experimental nature of the internal and external electronic modifications made for the specific purpose of research and development, no aircraft may b e operated under this exemption unless it is maintained in accordance with the appropriate requirements in 14 CFR for standard category aircraft.

10. Pilots must hold at least a commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating and, if required, the appr opriate type rating.

11. To act as pilot in command (PIC) of an aircraft under this exemption, pilots must have at least 50 hours in the type of aircraft (if a type rating is required) and at least

10 hours in the make and model of aircraft.

12. Aircraft that would require two pilots if certificated in standard category must have a PIC and second in command who are current and qualified in accordance with

part 61.

13. Aircraft operated under this exemption must maintain an en route altitude of no

lower than 7

, 000 feet above ground level over densely populated areas. Additionally, where possible, aircraft operating under visual meteorological conditions must avoid flig hts over congested areas.

14. MIT must request approval from the appropriate FAA air traffic control facility for all flights into a congested airway.4

15. For all high speed operations that do not meet the provisions of § 91.117, MIT must receive approval from t he FAA FSDO having jurisdiction over the area where the operation will be conducted.

16. For all low

- level operations that fail to meet the provisions of § § 91.119(b) or (c),

MIT must receive a waiver from the FAA FSDO having jurisdiction over the area

where t he operation will be conducted.

The Effect of Our Decision

Our decision extends the termination date of Exemption No. 5210 , as amended, to July 31, 20 1 5

, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Sincerely,

/s/

John M. Allen Director, Flight Standards S ervice