### JeffCunningham 125 CR 1850 Tupelo
,Ms

. 38804 Cell (662) 316-4129 Fax (662) 844-1975 Email:blueandgraysky@gmail.com

August 6
, 2015 U.S. Department ofTransportation, Docket Operations West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140 1200 NewJersey Avenue
, SE Washington, DC 20590

Dear Sir or Madam: 

### 8

i.

f!: 

### Ci

Pursuant to Section 333 ofthe FAA Modernization and Reform Act of2012 (the Reform Act), I, JeffCunningham owner of Blue and Gray Sky Photography, hereby apply for an exemption from Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) detailed belowto allowfor commercial operations ofa DJI Inspire 1 Professional four rotor UAS with an attached DJI Gimbal Mount holding a 4K UHD Camera for the purpose ofaerial photography and video for a variety of industries

.
The requested exemption would permit the petitioner to pursue safe, professional, for profit services to private and public entities within the state of Mississippi utilizing a small unmanned aircraft system (UA) for aerial still and video data capture for, but not limited to the following purpose:

*Real Estate Marketing *Agriculture/Crop Inspections *Property Video Survey *Roof/Bridge inspections *PhotoNideography of rural contracted outdoor recreational activities ofprivate and public use lands. (Prior Permission/Approval and Coordination only)
The petitioner is a retired State Highway Patrolman with 30 years ofexperience in public safety and service. Over halfofthe petitioners career was as a training officer
, educating and teaching safety. Public safety and compliance to procedures and laws
are the petitioners number one priority. In addition the petitioner has had many years and hours flying RC aircraft
, and is familiar with standard operating practices and procedures as well as safety attitudes and safety requirements within the UAS aviation

### 9


### industry. The petitioner has not had any incidents during his years of RC flight time that resulted in damage to property or injury to any persons.

As the Reform Act allows the FAAto "establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft systems in the national airspace system", IJeffCunningham's use ofthe Inspire 1will provide the following benefits and enhance or provide an equivalent level ofsafety. 1. The Inspire 1has a maximum takeoffweight ofless than 3 pounds and thus offers a lightweight, small and compact video platform compared to manned aircraft. 2. The Inspire 1offers significant safety, noise, emission, security and environmental benefits not available to larger manned aircraft. 3. The Inspire 1 has numerous safetyfeatures such as failsafe mode, automatic return home feature 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 Inspire 1 User Manual provide an equivalent level ofsafety. 4. Operations utilizing the Inspire 1will provide benefits to the general public as well
as serve the public interest by providing the service ofaerial photographic images and video to numerous businesses and individuals. All ofthis can be done for considerably less than the previously, only available, option ofutilizing manned aircraft at an equivalent level ofsafety.

The Aircraft, Operations and an Equivalent Level ofSafety 

### 1. The safe operation ofthe UAS will be the first priority before, during, and after every operation. 2. The UAS pilot will have the required Sports Pilot Certificate and will be considered the PIC whether flying or supervising and will be responsible for the safe operation of the UAS at all times. 3. The OJI Inspire 1 has a maximum takeoffweight of2,935 grams (battery included) or approximately 6.47 pounds. The dimensions are 438x451x301 mm and a maximum speed of22 meters per second. 4. The UAS utilizes GPS/GLONASS location and is controlled by a2.4 GHz transmitter. 5. All UAS operations will be conducted at Visual lineOfSight (VLOS) at no more than 400 feet AGL. 6. No UAS operations will be conducted within 5 NM ofan airport. 7. No UAS operations shall occur overdensely populated areas, large assemblies of people, stadiums, government buildings, power lines, or major roads. 8. All nonparticipating persons shall be a minimum of500 feet from the UAS. 9. Ifa nonparticipating person comes within 500 feet ofthe UAS, flight operations will
cease immediately.10

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 bewithin line ofsight (LOS) ofthe PIC and VO. 12. Airport operators will be notified,ifflying within 5 miles ofan airport, and the operatorwill yield right ofway to avoid flying in the proximity ofany aircraft. 13. All required permits and permissions will be obtained from from the property owner
orthe property owners agents priorto flight. 

### An additional permission, ifnecessary will be sought after by contacting all local and state governments. 14. A pre-flight inspection bythe PIC will 

### be performed priorto each flight to assure that the UAS is safe for flight. A post-flight inspection will also be performed as an addedlevelofsafety. 15. Communication between the PIC and VO will be within verbal distance and NEVER through text messaging or phone calls on all UAS operations. 16. 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, structure, or person on the ground. 17. Priorto all UAS operations a pre-flight meeting will be held bythe PIC to determine: the parameters offlight in a given location, any hazards present, weather conditions, safety procedures at the specific location, and approximate duration and route offlight. 18. The PIC will have accumulated and accurately logged a minimum of25 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 underthe exemption. 19. The Inspire 1 UAS will utilize GPS/GLONASS location, auto return home, and will
never be operated at below20% battery capacity.

The DJIInspire 1 UAS is a small and safe 6.47 pound plastic and composite aircraft utilizing four propellers driven by a 4700 mAh LiPo 6s 22.2 smart battery with a MAX flight time of23 minutes. The remote control/transmitter operates at 2.4 GHz. The aircraft's software has been setto FAA regulations of400' ceiling and recognizes zones around airports and forbids flight within 1.5 miles ofthe center ofa type A airport, and outside the 1.5 miles up to 5 miles the altitude increase from 35' to 400' in a conical fashion. For example: at 1.5 miles outyour limit is 35' and at 3.25 Miles from the center the max altitude AGL is 217.5'. The SUAS has a built in capability to limit the height it flies above ground, to limitthe radius ofthe distance itflies from the PIC and to exdude itfrom Class 

### 8, C and 

### 0 airspace including a no fly zone feature.This feature is great and allows those who wish to take photos with their drone at say 10' AGL 2 miles from
an Airport, they are more than safe in doing so. The UAwill not operate in Class 

### 8, C,
or D airspace without written approval from the FAA. The incorporated FLY SAFE

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technology also restricts flights in areas deemed not permitted bythe FAA, for example Washington D.C. The aircraft will automatically return to point oforigin ordescend 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 lowdecibel level noise emissions
, small payload capacity, and short flight time. This significantly reduces current risk levels involved with utilizing manned aircraft for aerial photography. Additionally, past purchasers ofaerial photography have had to contractwith manned aircraft operations at a significant expense. Blue and Gray Skys UAS operations will provide a public benefit in allowing more people to access aerial photography images and video ata significantly lower price. Low level oblique photos and video from several angles are far
more effectivethan ground based imagery for displaying the characteristics oflarge
, complex properties with several buildings and large trees. To add
, to that we will provide the same services at a greater orequivalent level ofsafety compared to similar manned operations ofthe liking. Additionally
, we request that we be allowed to use oursystem to benefit first responders nearbywho might require assistance
, including fire fighters
, the police
, the sheriffs dept. and the Ms. highway safety patrol, while remaining subject to all limitations cited in thius application as we doso.

It is the applicant's beliefthatthe small size ofthe Inspire 1 UAS
,the basic operating parameters outlined above, the specific exemptions discussed below
, the fully trained
, certified and vetted crew, and the equivalent level ofsafety provided at a much lower cost to the general publicwill persuade the FAAto grant an exemption to Blue and Gray Sky (JeffCunningham) for commercial UAS aerial photography operations under the Reform Act of2012.

The exemption requests follow below. The DJIInspire 1 User's Manuals links are as follows:
Quick Start Guide: http://download.dji-innovations.com/d ownloads/inspire 1 /en/Inspire 1 Qui ck Start Guide en.pdf User Manual: http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/inspire 1 /en/Inspire 1 User Manual v 1.0 en.pdf

### 12

Conclusion As pointed out in this application, the UASswhich our companywould use, under authorization by the US DOT-FAA, are small, lightweight devices operated within the line ofsight ofthe Pilot-in-Command (PIC). The devices shall be operated less than 400 feet above the ground and outside 5 miles from any airport, heliport, or other location with aviation activities, unlessthe air traffic control authorities (ATC) have been notified and have authorized each flight within a radius ofthis distance. Our UAS have proven capabilityfor controlled flight. They are devices offered for general sale on the market around the world and have often been used as Model Aircraft in the USA. We are certain that the studies conducted until now by the FAA, about Section 332, Public Law 112-95, 2014, have already provided you with the assurances on the airworthiness of UASs such as ours. Forthe foregoing reasons, the exemptions requested herein should be granted and Blue and Gray Sky should be permitted to conduct small UAS operations in accordance with its manuals and all other operating parameters deemed necessary and appropriate bythe FAA. The submission ofthis application and its contents is the best demonstration that indeed it is possible to pursue the authorization process so some UASs may be used for legitimate commerdal activities and under reasonably safe conditions.



### ffCunningham Owner, Blue and Gray Sky Photography



### EXEMPTION REQUESTS AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF 

### SAFETY

Blue and Gray Sky Photography requests relieffrom the following regulations as well as any additional regulations that maytechnically applyto the operation ofInspire 1 UAS:

14 C.F.R. Part 21 14 C.F.R. 45.23 (b) 14 C.F.R. 61.113(a) and (b) 14 C.F.R. 91.7 (a) 14 C.F.R. 91.9 (b) (2) 14 C.F.R. 91.109 14C.F.R. 91.119 14 C.F.R. 91.121 14 C.F.R. 91.151(a) 14 C.F.R. 91.203 (a) & (b) 14 C.F.R. 91.205 (b)

### 13

14 CFR 

### Part21, Subpart H: 

### Airworthiness Certificates

This part establishes

### the procedures forthe issuance ofan airworthiness certificate. VVhile the 

### FAA continues to workto develop airworthiness standards for UAS,

### we request an experimental certificate be issued 

### forthe 

### UAS operated bythe applicant under either or both 

### ofthe following provisions:



### 21.191 Experimental certificates. Experimental certificates are issued

### for

### thefollowing purposes: (a) Research and development. Testing 

### new airaaftdesign concepts, new airaaft equipment, 

### new aircraft installations, new airaaft operating techniques, or new uses for airaaft. (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 oftype 

### and supplemental type 

### certificates, flights to substantiate majordesign changes, and flights to show compliance with the function and reliability requirements ofthe regulations.

Since 

### the experimental certificate can be 

### used for commercial purposes

### such as market surveys, sales demonstrations, and customer aewtraining, we would expectthat an experimental certificate would permit our commercial purpose aswell.

The aircraftwill not carry persons or propertyand will onlyfly understrict operational requirements. As the Inspire 1 UAS also carries no combustible fuel, weighs less than 3 pounds and is constructed primarily ofplastics and composites. We propose the UAS is at least as safe, ifnot signtficantly saferthan conventionally certified airaaft used within similarparameters.

Ifan 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 certtficate in general, citing the equivalent level ofsafety

### outlined in the previous paragraph.



### 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 istoo small to carry doaJmentation, itdoes not have an entrance and does not carry acrew, we propose the following in orderto meet the intent of91.203 and provide an equivalent level ofsafety. All documents deemed appropriate bythe FAAfor this aircraftwill be 

### located at the operational ground station for each flight in proximitytothe PIC and VO and will be available for inspection on request. In orderto identifythe aircraft, we propose to use the manufacturer's model and production codes located on the aircraft as well as appropriate registration numbers and the telephone number ofthe manufacturer and Blue and Gray Sky affixed to the aircraft as well. Should the FAAdeem appropriate, we will also affixthe word "EXPERIMENTAL" in the largest possible lettering given the size ofthe UAS, as discussed further below.

14 CFR 45.23 Display of marks; generaland 45.29 Sizeof 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 nearthe entrance to the cabin, cockpit, or pilot station.

As the UAS does not have an entrance, may not have an FAAassigned registration number and is ofsuch small size, we propose to affixthe word "EXPERIMENTAL" in the largest possible lettering appropriate forthe aircraft. Additionally, for each operation the ground station will be clearly identified with a banner containing the words "UAS Ground Station" that will be ofappropriate size to be seen by any observer ofthe aircraft operations and chooses to investigate its point oforigin. The ground station will also have all registration and identity documents relating 

### to the UAS.

14 CFR 91.9 Civilaircraft

### 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 ofthis requirement is to ensure that flight manual information is available to the aircrewwhile operating the aircraft.

Blue and Gray Sky Photography requests an exemption to this requirement as the UAS cannot, given its size, carrythe flight manual. To meet an equivalent level ofsafety, we propose to have the current manufacturer's flight manual 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 aircraftthat is being used for flight instruction unless that aircraft has fully functioning dual controls." The controls forthe UAS do not currently have a set offully functioning dual controls. Ifa UAS pilot is being trained, the pilot performing the training would be directly supervising and could take overthe controls from the pilot in training ifthe need arose. This would be similarto the technique ofa''throw-overtype" 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

### 15

14 CFR 91.119 Minimum safe

### altitudes: General. The regulation states that over sparsely populated areas the aircraft cannot be operated doser than 500 feetto any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. Since thetypical mission ofthe UAS would be photographyorsurveyofpersons, vessels, vehicles or structures itwould be necessary to operate closerthan 500

### feet to theitems listed. Operationswill only be flown over property or personswhere permission has been obtained and careful pre-flight planning has been performed. The aircraftwill beoperated at a low altitude allowing, ifapower unitfails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or propertyon the surface. Therefore we maintain that dueto the small size ofthe UAS, the hazard to persons, vehicles and strudures is minimal compared to manned aircraft, which should beconsidered in granting the exemption.

14

### CFR 

### 91.121 Altimeter settings. The regulation provides that aircraft shall maintain cruising altitudes by reference to an altimeter setting available within 100 nautical miles ofthe aircraft. The UAVwill always beflying below400 feet AGLwithin VLOS ofthe PIC and VO that will provide separation from terrain, strudures and other aircraft. The Petitioner's primary mission would be to record data orsurvey ofpersons, property or structures as listed. Also, the UAS will continuallytransmit an AGL reading backto the controller atthe ground station, and the AGL lockin the UAS's software will be setto 400 feet, providing an equivalent 

### leveJ ofsafety.

14 CFR 91.151 Fuel 

### requirements for

### flight inVFR 

### conditions. The regulation provides that no person may begin aflight in an airplane under day-VFR conditions unless there is enough fuel to fly to the first point ofintended landing and at least 30 minutes once the first point of intended landing.Wefeel that the intention here is to provide a reserve offuel to remain aloft should a landing bedelayed orthe landing point changed. The UAS is smart battery powered and continuallytransmits battery charge information backto theground station to beevaluated bythe PIC. The PIC will return the UAS backto the ground station whenthe battery shows 20% remaining capacity. We request an exemption to theword 'fuel' and askfor an equivalent interpretation with the word 'energy'.



### 14CFR 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, induding compliance with part 39 and 43. Paragraphs 91.407 and 91.409 require thatthe aircraft be "approved for return to service by a person authorized under43.7" after maintenance and inspection.

The PIC wiD ensure that the aircraft is in airworthy condition priorto everyflight and in addition condud detailed inspections aftereverytwo (2) hours offlight. Maintenance performed bythe PIC is limited to repairing small cracks, replacing apropeller, checking electrical connections and updating software and firmware forthe onboard computer. Allother maintenance will 

### beperformed bythe manufacturer ortheir designated repair fadllty. The PIC wiR documentwork performed in accordance with 91.417. We feel that dueto the size, construction, and simplicityofthe aircraft, 

### the PIC can ensure an equivalent level ofsafety. 

### 16

14 CFR 61.113 Private pilotprivilegesand limitations: Pilot In Command and 61.133 Commerdal pilot privileges and limitations. The regulation provides that no person that holds a Private Pilot certificate may act as pilot in Command ofan aircraftfor compensation or hire. Subparagraph (b) allows a private pilot to act as pilot in command ofan aircraft in connection with any business or employment if: (1) The flight is only inddental to that business or employment; and (2) The aircraft does not carry passengers or propertyfor compensation or hire. 

### Our proposed operations require that the PIC must hold at least a Recreational Pilot Certificate issued bythe FAA. Since the aircraft cannot carry passengers or property, we feel 

### we meet

### the intent of61.113 Subparagraph (b) even though, 

### the intent ofthis application isto conduct a business.