January13, 2016

Michael Barron 2119 Quiet Falls Lane League City, Texas 77573

FAA Docket Management Facility U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12

- 140 Washington, DC 20590

To whom it concerns,

I, Michael Barron , operator of an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), hereby applies for an exemption from the listed Federal Aviation Regulations (“FARs”) to allow commercial operation

of my UAS, so long as such operations are conducted within and under t he conditions outlined

herein or as may be established by the FAA as required by Section 333.

UAS Type

DJI Phantom 3 Professional

UAS Specs/Documents and Manuals http://www.dji.com/product/phantom

- 3/spec http://download.dji

innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_Quick_Start_Guide_en.pdf http://download.dji

innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_User_Manual_v1.2_en.pdf http://download.dji

innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Intelligent_Flight_Battery_Safety_Guidelines_en.pdf http://download.dji

innovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Safety_Guidelines_Disclaimer_en.pdf

PIC Background I, Michael Barron, cur rently possess a curren t private pilot license #3478930 with a third class

medical certificate

. I have logged over 3500 hours in single engine aircraft, 100 hours in twin engine aircraft and 20 hours in rotor craft. I have been flying my specific drone for 3 months and have accumulated nearly 50 hours of flight time. I have been using various visual observers for my flights and they help ensure my

drone is safe while in the air.

Michael E. Barron

713

- 459

- 9700 2119 Quiet Falls Lane League City, Texas 77573 Acepilot66@earthlink.netAircraft Rules and Safety
I, Michael Barron

, will adhere to all of the following limitations and conditions when conducting commercial operations under the FAA issued exemption as set forth in the Flight Operations Manual (FOM):

1. The U AS will weigh less than 55 lbs. and have a maximum operating sp eed of no more than 50 mph.

2

. Operations for the purpose of closed

- set motion pic ture and television filming are not permitted.

3

. The UA must be operated within visual line of sight (VLOS) of the PIC at all times. This requires the PIC to be able to u se human vision u naided by any device other than corrective lenses, as specified on the PIC’s FAA

- issued airman m edical certificate or U.S. driver’s license.

4

. Flights will be operated at an altitude of no more than 40 0 feet Above Ground Level (AGL)

5

. All operations must utilize a visual observer (VO). The UA must be operated within the visual line of sight (VLOS) of the PIC and VO at a ll times. The VO may be used to satisfy the VLOS requirement as long a s the PIC always maintains VLOS capability. The VO and PIC must be

able to com municate verbally at all times; electronic messaging or texting is not permitted during flight operations. T he PIC must be designated before the flight and cannot transfer his or her designation for the duration of the flight. The PIC must ensure tha t the VO can perform the

duties required of the VO.

6

. Any UAS that has undergone maintenance or alterations that affect the UAS operation or flight characteristics, e.g., replacement of a flight critical component, must undergo a functional test flight prior to conducting further operations under this exemption. Functional test flights may only be conducted by a PIC with a VO and must remain at least 500 feet from other people. The functional test flight must be conducted in such a manner so as to not pose an undue hazard to persons and property.

7

. The operator is responsible for maintaining and inspecting the UAS to ensure that it is in a condition for safe operation

8

. Prior to each flight, the PIC must conduct a pre

- flight ins pection and determine the UAS is in a condition for safe flight. The pre

- flight inspection must account for all potential discrepancies, e.g., inoperable components, items, or equipment. If the inspection reveals a condition that affects the safe operation of the UAS, the aircraft is prohibited from operating until the necessary maintenance has been performed and the UAS is found to be in a condition for safe flight

.

9

. The operator must follow the UAS manufacturer’s maintenance, overhaul, replacement,

in spection, and life limit requirements for the aircraft and aircraft components.

10

. Each UAS operated under this exemption must comply with all manufacturer safety bulletins.11

. Under this grant of exemption, a PIC must hold either an airline transport, commercial, private, recreational, or sport pilot certificate. The PIC must also hold a current FAA airman medical certificate or a valid U.S. driver’s license issued by a state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, a territory, a possession, or the Fed eral 5 government. The PIC must also meet the flight review requirements specified in 14 CFR § 61.56 in an aircraft in which the PIC is rated on his or her pilot certificate

12

. The operator will obtain verbal/written consent of all persons involved with the planned operation and ensure that only consenting persons will be allowed within 100 feet of the flight operation, and the radius may be reduced to 3 0 feet based upon an equivalent level of safety determination. With the advance permission of the FSDO, operations at closer range may be approved.

13

. The operator may not permit any PIC to operate unless the PIC demonstrates the ability to safely operate the UAS in a manner consistent with how the UAS will be operated under this exemption, including eva sive and emergency maneuvers and maintaining appropriate distances from persons, vessels, vehicles and structures. PIC qualification flight hours and currency must be logged in a manner consistent with 14 CFR § 61.51(b). Flights for the purposes of trainin g the operator’s PICs and VOs (training, proficiency, and experience

- building) and determining the PIC’s ability to safely operate the UAS in a manner consistent with how the UAS will be operated under this exemption are permitted under the terms of this e xemption. However, training operations may only be conducted during dedicated training sessions. During training, proficiency, and experience

- building flights, all persons not essential for flight operations are considered nonparticipants, and the PIC must operate the UA with appropriate distance from nonparticipants in accordance with 14 CFR § 91.119.

14

. UAS operations may not be conducted during night, as defined in 14 CFR § 1.1. All operations must be conducted under visual meteorological conditions (V MC). Flights under special visual flight rules (SVFR) are not authorized

.

15

. If the UAS loses communications or loses its GPS signal, the UA must return to a pre

determined location within the private or controlled

- access property.

16

. The UAS will hav e the capability to abort a flight in case of unpredictable obstacles, weather or emergencies.

17. The UA may not operate within 5 nautical miles of an airport reference point (ARP) as denoted in the current FAA Airport/Facility Directory (AFD) or for ai rports not denoted with an ARP, the center of the airport symbol as denoted on the current FAA

- published aeronautical chart, unless a letter of agreement with that airport’s management is obtained or otherwise permitted by a COA issued to the exemption hol der. The letter of agreement with the airport management must be made available to the Administrator or any law enforcement official upon
request.

18. The UA may not be operated less than 500 feet below or less than 2,000 feet horizontally

from a cloud or when visibility is less than 3 statute miles from the PIC.

19. The PIC must abort the flight in the event of unpredicted obstacles or emergencies.20. The PIC is prohibited from beginning a flight unless (considering wind and forecast weather

conditions ) there is enough available power for the UA to conduct the intended operation and to operate after that for at least five minutes or with the reserve power recommended by the manufacturer if greater

.

21. Air Traffic Organization (ATO) Certificate of Waiv er or Authorization (COA). All operations shall be conducted in accordance with an ATO

- issued COA. The 6 exemption holder may apply for a new or amended COA if it intends to conduct operations that cannot be

conducted under the terms of the attached COA.

22. Documents used by the operator to ensure the safe operation and flight of the UAS and any documents required under 14 CFR §§ 91.9 and 91.203 must be available to the PIC at the Ground Control Station of the UAS any time the aircraft is operating. These documents must be made available to the Administrator or any law enforcement official upon request.

23. The UA must remain clear and give way to all manned aviation operations and activities at

all times.

24. The UAS may not be operated by the PIC from any moving device or vehicle.

25. All Flight operations must be conducted at least 500 feet from all nonparticipating persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures unless: a. Barriers or structures are present that sufficiently protect nonparticipating perso ns from the UA and/or debris in the event of an accident. The operator must ensure that nonparticipating persons remain under such protection. If a situation arises where nonparticipating persons leave such protection and are within 500 feet of the UA,

fli ght operations must cease immediately in a manner ensuring the safety of nonparticipating persons; and b. The owner/controller of any vessels, vehicles or structures has granted permission for operating closer to those objects and the PIC has made a safety assessment of the risk of operating closer to those objects and determined that it does not present an undue hazard. The PIC, VO, operator trainees or essential persons are not considered nonparticipating persons under this exemption.

26. All operations shall be conducted over private or controlled

- access property with permission from the property owner/controller or authorized representative. Permission from property owner/controller or authorized representative will be obtained for each flight to be con ducted.

27. Any incident, accident, or flight operation that transgresses the lateral or vertical boundaries of the operational area as defined by the applicable COA must be reported to the FAA's UAS Integration Office (AFS

− 80) with in 24 hours. Accidents must be reported to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) per instructions contained on the NTSB Web site: www.ntsb.gov.

As described fully below , the requested exemption would permit the operation of sUAS under

controlled conditions in the NAS that would be:a) Limited b) Controlled c) P redetermined and will provide safety enhancements to the already safe operations in the industry presently using conventional aircraft. Approval of this exemption

would thereby enhance safety and fulfill the S ecretary of Transportation’s (the FAA Administrator’s) responsibilities to “....establish requirements for the safe operation of such aircraft systems in the national airspace system.”

Regulations from which the exemption is requested:

14 C.F.R. Part 21, 1 4 C.F.R. 45.23(b), 14 C.F.R. 61.113(a), 14 C.F.R. 91.7(a), 14 C.F.R. 91.9(b)(2), 14 C.F.R. 91.119(c), 14 C.F.R. 91.121, 14 C.F.R. 91.151(a)(1), 14 C.F.R. 91.203(a) and (b), 14 C.F.R. 91.405(a), 14 C.F.R. 91.407(a)(1), 14 C.F.R. 91.409(a)(1) and (2), 14 C.F .R. 91.417(a) and (b)

14 C.F.R. Part 21: Airworthiness Certificates Given the size and limited operating area associated with the aircrafts to be utilized by
I, Michael Barron , an exemption from Part 21 meets the requirements of an equivalent level of

saf ety under Part 11 and Section 333 of the reform Act. In all cases, an analysis of these criteria demonstrates that the UA operated without an airworthiness certificate, in the restricted environment and under the conditions proposed will be at least as saf e, or safer, than conventional aircraft operating with an airworthiness certificate without restrictions and conditions proposed.

14 C.F.R. 45.23: Display of marks: general I request an exemption from § 45.23 Marking of the aircraft because his UA will no t have a cabin, cockpit or pilot station on which to mark certain words or phrases. Further, I state that

two

- inch lettering is difficult to place on such a small aircraft with dimensions smaller than the minimal lettering requirement. Regardless of this, I state that I will mark his UAS in the largest possible lettering by placing the word “Experimental” on its fuselage as required by § 45.29(f) so that he or anyone assisting him as a spotter will see the markings.

14 C.F.R. 61.113(a) & (b): Private pilo t privileges and limitations: Pilot in command The FAA has previously declared that additional manned airship experience of a commercially certified pilot would not correlate to the airmanship skills necessary for similarly proposed operations in previousl y issued exemptions to this regulation through Exemption

Nos. 11062 and 11138.

14 C.F.R 91.7: Civil aircraft airworthiness Currently, since there is no certificate applicable to the UAs in question, this regulation is inapplicable.

14 C.F.R. 91.9 (b)(2): Civil aircraft flight manual, marking, and placard requirements Requires an aircraft flight manual in the aircraft, however there are no pilots or passengers on board this aircraft and given its size, this regulation is inapplicable. An equivalent level o f safety will be achieved by maintaining a safety/flight manual with the
operator.

14 C.F.R. 91.119(c): Minimum safe altitudesAs discussed in Exemption 11138 (DOUGLAS TRUDEAU), operations conducted closer than 500 feet to the ground may require that the UA be operated closer than 500 feet to essential persons, or objects that would not be possible without additional relief. The petitioner requests modification, waiver or exemption and clarification concerning the terms “congested areas” and “densely popul ated”. The petitioner requests waiver for this condition to allow reasonable and responsible operations in areas of subdivisions and neighborhoods if required. The petitioner will primarily operate the UAS between ground level and 200 feet. The UAS will be operated over designated properties with the owner’s consent and while maintaining a safe distance from persons. The petitioner will compile flight data from the logs. This data may assist the FAA in development of regulations for commercial operations in low

- risk, controlled environments.

14 C.F.R. 91.121: Altimeter settings The UAS utilize electronic GPS with a barometric sensor. An eq uivalent level of safety will be achieved by using this.

14 C.F.R. 91.151(a)(1): Fuel Requirements for flight in VFR co nditions The UAS that I will fly are powered by electricity, using lithium polymer batteries that currently have a flight limit of approximately no more than 25 minutes. Information about batteries can be found in the Operator’s manual. Information provid ed in the operating documents discusses procedures regarding remaining battery power management. Those documents contain a condition in which the PIC will initiate a landing procedure when battery remaining reaches a specified level. Given the limitations on proposed operations and the location of those proposed operations, The FAA found that a reduced minimum power reserve for flight in daytime VFR conditions was reasonable.

14 C.F.R. 91.203(a) and (b): Civil aircraft: Certifications required Currently, there are no procedures for providing airworthiness certificates for the mentioned UAS. I, Michael Barron , however will always fly safely while having the manuals of

the DJI Phantom 3.

I state that an exemption from §§ 91.405(a), 91.407(a)(1), 91.409(a)(2 ) and 91.417(a) and (b) Maintenance inspections may be required and should be granted since they only apply to aircraft with an airworthiness certificate. However, I state that as a safety precaution I will perform a preflight inspection of his UAS before each flight as outlined in my operating

documents. Maintenance inspections may be required and sh ould be granted since they only apply to aircraft with an airworthiness certificate

. I will also follow manufac turer
recommendations from operating documents

.

My UAS is a multi

- rotor craft weighing less than 55 lbs. including payload. Under normal conditions it operates at speeds of no more than 50 knots and has the ability to hover and move along a vertical and horizontal plane simultaneously. It will be operated within line of sight and within a closed off and predetermined area owned and operated by the property representative or requesting agency.

Given the small size of the sUAS and the controlled environment provided, the proposed operations will ad here to the Reform Act’s safety requirements. The approval of this application presents no national security issues.Risk/ Public Interest

I have reviewed FAA exemptions reference’s 1

- 3 Conditions and Limitations section and believes that the procedures s pecified therein are reasonable and will be utilized in order to manage and mitigate risk and ensure public safety. A preflight checklist will be developed and employed to ensure that the UA airworthiness will be verified before launch. Airworthiness will be maintained by performance of routine inspections before each flight, maintaining flight and maintenance logs to record time on failure prone components. These documents will be m ade

available to the FAA and so to assist in future implementation of safet y standards and regulations. The petitioner will only operate the UAS over designated properties with the owner’s consent. Flight plans will be predetermined to limit the UASs flight time and limit safety concerns. The petitioner will take into account dis tance from persons and potential flight obstacles prior to operating the UAS. UAS operation will always be within VLOS of the PIC and

the observer.

Public Interest Regarding the level of safety surrounding the proposed operations and the public benefit,

r eduction in the environmental impacts, including but not limited to reduced emissions and noise, the grant of the requested exemption by the Applicant is in the public interest. Use of the UAS in lieu of a manned aircraft would enhance safety and reduce t he environmental impact as compared to similar operations conducted with manned aircraft of greater proportions, carrying a crew and flammable fuel. Additionally, use of the UAS in order to facilitate commerce could lead to economic growth. Operations for this petition will enable service for property owners or their designees seeking an enhanced perspective for characteristics, amenities, and benefits of their desired photographic subjects that cannot be displayed through ground level videography/photograp hy. Aerial photography is a valuable marketing tool that can lead to increased commerce and enhance personal photography. Aerial surveying and inspections can increase work site efficiency, improve volumetric estimations and reduce risks. The petitioner

wi ll provide clients with photographic data for these purposes on a ‘for hire’ basis acting as an independent contractor. A visual observer will be utilized. Flight data including UA flight time, Control Unit operation time, incident, accident, and details c oncerning any deviations from normal operations will be available to FAA for use in collecting data regarding the use of UAS as part of this application. This data may be submitted to FAA via traditional means or other means as required.

Aircraft Specifi cations I request to operate a DJI Phantom 3 Professional along the guidelines of the accompanying DJI Phantom 3 Operator’s Manual, Quick Start Guide, Flight Battery Safety Guidelines, and the Safety Guidelines Disclaimer. This UAS will be equipped with a non

- detachable camera along with propeller guards and it will be transported in a hard shell case. I will have a direct live feed to my tablet device so that I may see a direct point of view of my flying. This proposed exemption would allow me operation of a UAS in the NAS for the purpose to serve the public

and to businesses.

This specific UAS was chosen because it has proven reliable flying capabilities managed by gyro stabilized flight, ground detection, GPS aided navigation, a compass, blinking LED s, and a failsafe mode that would allow for returning to a selected home point.I plan commercially to use my DJI Phantom 3 Professional for the following purposes:

1. Aerial photography and/or video for public and/or pri vate use including real estate, architecture, land surveying, engineering and other related professional activities.

2. Aerial photography and/or video for public and/or private use including public events, weddings, ceremonies, cinematography and public gathering s

. 3. Aerial inspecti on s/photography of residential/commercial structur es under contract with the owners or local government authority.

4. Aerial inspections/photography of residential/commercial utility infr astructure including but

not limited to electrical power lines, wind turbines and cell towers.

All flight operations are to be performed with safety as its number one priority. Opera tions will be pe rformed only at the request of and with the autho rization and permission of clie nts or their authorized agents in order to facilitate commerc e and raise awareness of the be neficial uses of small unmanned air systems.

Conclusion

I am requesting this exemption for the purposes of “aerial photography, cinematography, videography, inspections and other flight operations”. The re ason for such a general and broad based request is that I wish to utilize a business strategy of horizontal integration and maximize economies of scope in order to capitalize on opportunities as they may arise in the future without the long turnaround time associated with additional exemptions. My business model is b ased on the idea of offering small UAS services to individuals or companies who wish to employ these services as a safe, effective, and legal option to enha nce their business or hobby. I have re frained from engaging in commercial use of the UAS. The primary purpose of seeking this exemption is to obtain the capability to offer those services while remaining in compliance. I have over 25 years of flying single aircraft both as a civilian and pilo t for the Galveston County Sheriff’s

Office.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Michael E. Barron