Petition for Exemption under Section 333 of the FAA Reform Act and Part 11 of the Federal Aviation Regulations Page 1 of 2 

APPENDIX A

Bowman Consulting Group, Ltd (BCG), seeks an exemption from the following regulations and any additional

regulations that are applicable to this petition:

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

Under current regulations, civil operations for compensation or hire require a PIC holding a commercial pilot

certificate per 14 CFR part 61.  Based on the private pilot limitations in accordance with the pertinent parts of 14

CFR 61.113(a) and (b), a pilot holding a private pilot certificate cannot act as a PIC of an aircraft for compensation

or hire unless the flight is only incidental to a business or employment. However, in Grant of Exemption No. 11062

to Astraeus Aerial (Astraeus) (see Docket FAA‐2014‐0352), the FAA determined that a PIC with a private pilot

certificate operating the Astraeus UAS would not adversely affect operations in the NAS or present a hazard to

persons or property on the ground.

BCG maintains that our proposed operation does not differ significantly from that described in Grant of Exemption

No. 11062 (Astraeus).  We propose that a PIC holding a private pilot certificate and a third‐class airman medical

certificate is appropriate for the proposed operations.

We propose that any PIC will obtain the necessary airmanship skills to operate the eBee UAS via a training program

that will enable the PIC to safely operate the UAS in a manner consistent with how the UAS will be operated under

this proposed exemption, including evasive and emergency maneuvers and maintaining appropriate distances

from persons, vessels, vehicles and structures.

14 CFR 91.7(a) Civil aircraft airworthiness

BCG maintains that our compliance with the inspection and maintenance procedures found in the SenseFly eBee

User Manual and in the BCG Safe Production Standard included with this request will be sufficient means for

determining airworthiness of the aircraft and therefore requests relief from 14 CFR 91.7(a).

BCG is not requesting relief from 14 CFR 91.7(b) as the PIC of the UAS is responsible for and capable of determining

whether the aircraft is in a condition for safe flight.

14 CFR 91.119(c) Minimum safe altitudes

BCG requests relief from § 91.119(c) as we intend to operate the aircraft at altitudes below 400 ft AGL, and, in

some circumstances,  closer than 500 feet to persons, vessels, vehicles and structures.

To provide an equivalent level of safety we will only fly over private property with written permission of the land

owner.    Mission planning will include transmission of the mission route to the owner, and, when warranted,

measures to mitigate risk to property and personnel in/near the mission boundaries.  We note again that the eBee

weighs approximately 1.5 pounds and is constructed of flexible foam with detachable wings, making the hazard to

people and property very small relative to manned aircraft and even to other larger, rigid UAS aircraft.

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 of the aircraft.

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 then used to calculate the altitude in‐flight.  Given the limited altitude of

proposed missions, we feel that an equivalent level of safety is achieved and therefore request relief from §

91.121.
Petition for Exemption under Section 333 of the FAA Reform Act and Part 11 of the Federal Aviation Regulations Page 2 of 2 

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.  The eBee is

battery operated and the maximum duration of flight from a single battery charge is 50 minutes. Since the aircraft

will never fly more than 1/2 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.  The eBee is programmed so that when the battery

level reaches a predetermined (by the PIC) percentage of full charge, the aircraft automatically returns to the

home waypoint and initiates a landing sequence.  The PIC would then swap batteries and re‐launch the aircraft to

resume the mission.  Standard procedure for our missions is to begin the mapping mission at the furthest point

from the home waypoint, so that as the mission progresses and battery life is reduced, the aircraft is working its

way closer and closer to the home waypoint.  The aircraft is constantly reporting remaining battery power to the

PIC at the ground station.  

We note that prior relief has been granted for manned aircraft to operate at less than the prescribed minimums,

including Exemption Nos. 2689, 5745, and 10650. In addition, similar UAS‐specific relief has been granted in

Exemption Nos. 8811, 10808, and 10673 for daytime, VFR conditions.  Given the operational restraints in place for

the aircraft we submit that a reduced minimum power reserve for flight in daytime VFR conditions is reasonable.

14 CFR 91 Subpart E ‐ Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, and Alterations [91.405(a), 91.407(a)(1),

91.409(a)(1) and (2), 91.417(a) and (b)]

Subpart E essentially states that the operator is primarily responsible for maintaining the aircraft in an airworthy

condition.  We propose that the PIC perform maintenance and inspection on the aircraft and "be authorized to

approve the aircraft for return to service."

As provided in the attached BCG Safe Production Standard, the PIC will ensure that the aircraft is in an airworthy

condition prior to flight and conduct detailed inspections after every 10 hours. Maintenance performed by the PIC

is limited to repairing small cracks, replacing a propeller, and updating software and firmware. All other

maintenance will be performed by the manufacturer. 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.