June 13th, 2015 Overhead Drone Images

1001 Old Laurel Lane 

 Sevierville, TN 37876 

U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Docket Operations 

West Building Ground Floor, Room w12-140

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.,

Washington, DC 20590 

VIA FEDERAL DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Re: Exemption Request under Section 333 of the FAA Reform Act and Part 11 of the Federal 

Aviation Regulations

Dear Sir or Madam:

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

and 14 C.F.R. Part 11, Overhead Aerial Photography , seeks an exemption from Federal 

Aviation Regulations (“FARs”) detailed below for the following described Unmanned Aerial 

System called in this application the ME System, which includes an Unmanned Aircraft (UA) and 

ground station-based equipment and crew:

THE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT (UA):

 A lightweight (20 lb gross weight with all on-board equipment), manufactured by DJI, Inspire 

1- t-600, Phantom 3, Phantom 2 vision plus, and S1000 that includes the following equipment in 

flight;

 An on-board flight computer with GPS navigation and location ability that receives signals for 

flight controls from a ground-based transmitter/controller;

 An on-board camera capable of capturing imagery in the form of full color, high definition still 

photos and video;

 An on-board telemetry system that delivers flight data from the on-board flight computer to 

the on-board radio transmitter including altitude AGL, horizontal and vertical speed, compass 

direction of flight and direction back to its launch site;

 A 2.4GHz on-board radio transmitter that transmits live video from the on-board camera plus 

all the flight data from the telemetry system described above;

THE GROUD STATION –BASED PART OF THE SYSTEM:

 A Pilot in Command (PIC) in operational control of a flight operation from beginning to end 

and who controls the UA while in the air;

 A 2.4GHz radio transmitter/controller operated by the PIC to control the UA while in flight;

 A radio receiver receiving live video and flight data from the on-board camera and computer

projects it all together onto a screen for the PIC to view during flight;

 A Visual Observer (VO) is a person who provides a second pair of eyes to visually track the 

UA while in flight.
The requested exemption would support an application for a commercial Certificate of 

Authorization to use the above described ME System to support Aerial Photography, Aerial 

Video & Cinematography, Powerline, Bridge, Roof & Pipeline Inspection, Real Estate Sales, 

Special Events, Thermal Imagery never operating over persons not directly involved with the 

ME system.

The UA, powered by batteries, is smaller, lighter and more maneuverable than larger aircraft 

running on combustible fuel, it operates at lower altitudes with no people on board and will 

thereby reduce current risk levels and thereby enhance safety and diminish the likelihood of 

death or serious bodily injury. With a small payload and maximum flight time of only 18 minutes, 

this is offers little or no risk to national security.

Low level oblique photos and video from several angles are far more effective than groundbased imagery for displaying the characteristics of large, complex properties with several 

buildings and large trees. The alternative could be to charter a full-sized helicopter for this 

purpose, which has proven more costly than many potential clients are able to afford. The 

benefits of reduced cost and improved quality of presentation from the UA will be valuable to 

and benefit many buyers and sellers of real property and marine property.

Additionally, we request that we be allowed to use our system to benefit first responders nearby 

who might require assistance, including fire fighters, the police, the sheriff, et al., while 

remaining subject to all limitations cited in this application as we do so.

The ME System will be operated in the field with both a PIC and a VO in accordance with FAA 

Policy N 8900.227 Section 14 "Operational Requirements for UAS" and with the following 

Restrictions:

a) No flight will be made with a UA Gross weight exceeding 55 pounds;

b) All operations must occur in FAA Class G airspace at no more than 400 ft AGL, at an 

airspeed of no more than 50 knots and no further than 3/4 NM from the PIC;

c) All operations must utilize a visual observer (VO). The VO and PIC must be able to 

communicate by voice at all times during a flight operation;

d) Operations will be restricted to flights over property with the permission of the property owner;

e) The PIC must have accumulated and logged, in a manner consistent with 14 CFR § 61.51 

(b), a minimum of 100 flight cycles and 25 hours of total time as a UA rotorcraft pilot and at least 

ten hours logged as a UA pilot with a similar UA type;

f) All required permits will be obtained from state and local government prior to operation;

g) The ME System will not be operated over densely populated areas;

h) The ME System will not be operated at air shows;

i) The ME System will not be operated over any open-air assembly of people;

j) The ME System will not be operated over heavily trafficked roads;

k) The ME System will not be operated within 5 NM of an airport or heliport;

l) Operations will be restricted to day only and weather conditions equivalent to VFR;

m) The PIC will brief the VO and property owner about the operation and risk before the first 

flight at each new location;

n) No flight may be made without a Pre-Flight Inspection by the PIC before each operation to

ascertain that the UA is in a condition safe for flight (see Appendix A).

ADDENDUM EXEMPTION REQUESTS AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY

Overhead Drone Images requests an exemption from the following regulations as well as 

any additional regulations that may technically apply to the operation of the ME System:

14 CFR Part 21, 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 Unmanned Aerial Systems, we 

request an experimental certificate be issued for the ME System 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, will not carry fuel, and will only fly under strict 

operational requirements. Combined with the UA’s light weight, being constructed primarily of 

carbon fiber and plastic, we propose that the UA will be at least as safe, if not safer, than a 

conventionally certificated aircraft performing the same mission.

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

request an exemption of 14 CFR Part 21, Subpart H, and the requirement for an airworthiness 

certificate in general, citing the equivalent level of safety 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."

At a maximum gross weight of 6.5 pounds, the UA is too small to carry documentation, does not 

have an entrance, and is not capable of carrying passengers or crew. To obtain an equivalent 

level of safety and meet the intent of 91.203, we propose that documents deemed appropriate 

for this aircraft by the FAA will be co-located with the crew at the ground control station and 

available for inspection upon request. In order to identify the aircraft, we propose that the 

information found on airworthiness and registration certificates be permanently affixed to the 

aircraft via placard containing the following information plus the word “EXPERIMENTAL” to 

satisfy the requirement of 14 CFR 45.23, which follows immediately after the proposed placard 

description below:
Appendix A

EXPERIMENTAL

Manufacturer: DJI Innovations, Inc. 950 E Baseline Ave. Ste. 210 Apache Junction AZ 85119

Models: Inspire 1- t-600, Phantom 3, Phantom 2 vision plus, and S1000

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. The UA does not have an entrance in which the word "EXPERIMENTAL" can be 

placed, and may not have a registration number assigned to it by the FAA.

We propose to achieve an equivalent level of safety by including the word "EXPERIMENTAL"

in the placard on the top of the aircraft, as shown above, where the PIC, VO and others in the 

vicinity of the aircraft while it is preparing for launch will be able to see the designation. 

Additionally, we feel that the permanent placard discussed in the previous paragraph will 

provide the aircraft's registration information at the ground station. Finally, we will display at the 

ground station a high contrast flag or banner that contains the words "Unmanned Aircraft 

Ground Station" in letters 3 inches high or greater. Since the aircraft will operate within 3/4 NM 

of the ground station, the banner should be visible to anyone that observes the aircraft and 

chooses to investigate its point of origin.

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. We assume that the intent of this requirement is to ensure that flight 

manual information is available to the aircrew while operating the aircraft. We request 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 during flight operations.

To obtain an equivalent level of safety and meet the intent of 91.9, we propose that a current, 

approved UA Flight Manual (Appendix A) must be available to the crew at the ground station 

anytime the aircraft is in, or preparing for, flight.

14 CFR 61.113 Private pilot privileges and limitations: Pilot in Command and 61.133

Commercial pilot privileges and limitations.

The regulation provides 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; and (2) The aircraft does not carry 

passengers or property for compensation or hire.

Our proposed operations require that the PIC must either

1. Hold a Sport Pilot Certificate issued by the FAA, and have logged 25 hours of flight 

experience in this type of UA, or

2. Meet the requirements of 8900.227 para 16(c)(2)(c) "Operations without a pilot certificate" in 

which the PIC is required to complete "FAA private pilot ground instruction" and pass "the FAA 

Private Pilot written examination." Since there are currently no means available for the pilot of a 
UAS to gain the experience in an equivalent category and class in order to apply for a 

commercial pilot's license, we propose to generate an equivalent level of safety by requiring our 

pilots to complete, at a minimum, FAA commercial pilot ground instruction and pass the FAA 

Commercial Pilot written examination in addition

Appendix A

to completing the private pilot requirements. Since the aircraft cannot carry passengers or 

property, we feel we meet the intent of 61.113 Subparagraph (b) even though the intent of this 

application is to conduct a business.

14 CFR 91.109 Flight Instruction; Simulated instrument flight and certain flight tests

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

instruction unless that aircraft has fully functioning dual controls.”

The ME System ground-based control station consists of a small hand-held radio transmitter 

and while it does not offer a second set of "controls", both the student and instructor can, and 

will, operate the single set of controls simultaneously. With both student and instructor having 

"hands-on" the controls during flight, 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 states 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, we cannot comply with this requirement.

In order to provide an equivalent level of safety we will only fly over private property with a size 

of at least two acres with the permission of the owner of the property flown over. The aircraft will 

not be operated over congested areas or over any open air assembly of persons. The property 

owner will be briefed on the expected route of flight and the associated risks to persons and 

property on the ground. The aircraft will be operated at a low altitude allowing, if a power unit 

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

Therefore we maintain that due to the small size of the UA, the hazard to persons, vehicles and 

structures is minimal compared to manned aircraft, which should be considered in granting the 

exemption.

14 CFR 91.121 Altimeter settings.

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

setting available within 100 NM of the aircraft.

The UA will always fly below 400 feet AGL and will not need to maintain cruising altitudes in 

order to prevent conflict with other aircraft. An Above Ground Level altimeter measurement 

above the takeoff point is transmitted via radio from the UA on-board computer to the display 

screen held by the PIC, providing a constantly updated AGL readout.

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 the intention of this paragraph is to provide an energy 
reserve as a safety buffer for delays to landing. The UA is battery operated and the maximum 

duration of flight from a single battery charge is 18 minutes with a 20% reserve. Since the 

aircraft will never fly more than 3⁄4 NM from the point of intended landing, a full battery charge at 

launch will ensure that we meet the reserve energy requirement of this paragraph. We request 

an exemption to the word "fuel" and ask for an equivalent interpretation with the word "energy".

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 - 91.417) - Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, 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.

It is our intention that the PIC perform maintenance and inspection of the aircraft and "be 

authorized to approve the aircraft for return to service." As provided in the Pre-Flight Checklist in 

Appendix A, the PIC will ensure that the aircraft is in an airworthy condition prior to every flight 

and in addition conduct detailed inspections after every two hours of flight. Maintenance 

performed by the PIC is limited to repairing small cracks, replacing a propeller, checking 

electrical connections and updating software and firmware for the on-board computer. All other 

maintenance will be performed by the manufacturer or their designated repair facility. The PIC 

will document work performed in accordance with 91.417. We feel that due to the size, 

construction, and simplicity of the aircraft, the PIC can ensure an equivalent level of safety.

8900.227 Paragraph 16(c)(4) PIC Medical. and Paragraph 16(e)(1) Observer Medical.

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

certificate issued under part 67 in order to perform as a pilot or observer. The UA maximum 

gross weight is 6.5 pounds, it is constructed of carbon fiber and plastic and the PIC is not on 

board. Both the PIC and the VO are required to be in VLOS. Given the unlikely event that both 

the PIC and VO become medically incapacitated while the aircraft is in flight, the UA will return 

autonomously to the site of launching and land without crew intervention.

Therefore, 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.

We propose that the minimum medical requirements for the PIC and VO be vision corrected to 

20/20 and a valid, state issued driver's license. The 20/20 vision requirement will ensure that the 

PIC and VO can see and avoid air traffic; a licensed driver is medically qualified to operate a 

much larger vehicle.
APPENDIX A – FLIGHT MANUAL

FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS

a) No flight will be made with a UA Gross weight exceeding 55 pounds;

b) All operations must occur in FAA Class G airspace at no more than 400' AGL, at an airspeed 

of no more than 50 knots and no further than 3/4 NM from the PIC;

c) All operations must utilize a visual observer (VO). The VO and PIC must be able to 

communicate verbally at all times during a flight operation;

d) Operations will be restricted to flights over property with the permission of the property owner;

e) The PIC must have accumulated and logged, in a manner consistent with 14 CFR § 61.51 

(b), a minimum of 100 flight cycles and 25 hours of total time as a UA rotorcraft pilot and at least 

ten hours logged as a UA pilot with a similar UA type;

f) All required permits will be obtained from state and local government prior to operation;

g) The ME System will not be operated over densely populated areas;

h) The ME System will not be operated at air shows;

i) The ME System will not be operated over any open-air assembly of people;

j) The ME System will not be operated over heavily trafficked roads;

k) The ME System will not be operated within 5 NM of an airport or heliport;

l) Operations will be restricted to day only and weather conditions equivalent to VFR;

m) The PIC will brief the VO and property owner about the operation and risk before the first 

flight at each new location;

n) No flight may be made without a successful Pre-Flight Inspection by the PIC before each

operation to ascertain that the UA is in a condition safe for flight.

PREFLIGHT CHECKLIST

1. Remote controller, aircraft battery, and mobile device are fully charged.

2. Propellers are mounted correctly and firmly.

3. Micro-SD card has been inserted if necessary.

4. Gimbal is functioning as normal.

5. Motors can start and are functioning as normal.

6. DJI Pilot app connected to the aircraft.

TO REGAIN CONTROL AFTER LOST RADIO CONTACT

If radio contact is lost and not restored within 3 seconds, an automatic Return to Home feature 

is activated and will bring the UAV back to the PIC.