U.S

.Deportment 

### or Transportation Federal Avia ti on Adm i nistration



## OCT Z 1 2015 Mr. Paul G. App l ewhi te App l ewh ite Ae r o P.O. Box 46955 Seattle , W A 98146 Dear Mr. Appl ewhite: 800 In depende nc e Ave

. S w Wa sh i ngton

. DC 20591



### T hi s is in response to your docket submission letter dated September 17, 2015 (p ubli c docket No. FAA-2013-0654) petitioning the Federal Aviation Administration on behalf of Applew hite Aero for an extension to its current exemption (Exemption No.1 0869) from §§ 9 1. 9(b), and 91.203(a) and (b) of Title 14 , Code of Federal R eg ulations (C FR), allowing Applewhite Aero to operate its unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that do not carry and display the aircraft's airworthiness , certification, and registration documents required under pati 9 1. On August 8 , 2014, the FAA Office of Ch ief Counse l issued a legal interpretation relating to the requirements under§§ 91.9 and 91.203 to keep the aircraft's airworthiness , certification , and registration documents on board the air craft

. The FAA determined that maintaining th ese documents at the pi lot's control sta tion would meet the intent of the ru l e as the pil ot would be able to produce the document s for hi s or her own inf ormation or to an FAA in spector. A copy of this interpretation is enclosed for your information. It 

### can also be found at http :// www.faa.gov/ about/ollice erg/headquarters offices /age/ po l adjudi cat ion /agc200 und e r " Legal Interpretation s & 

### Chief Counsel's Opinion s." B ecause the relief you seek is now covered under thi s interpretation , we will take no further act io n on your petition. S in cere ly ,



# ~~e-z 

# - William Crozie -;;;- Assistant Manager UAS Integration Office

AFS-15 -4 023-E

### Proj ectNo.: AFS -15- 4023-E Project Officer:

_ ____ _ ARM-101 :KJones: 1 0/ 6 / 2015:Doc # 49495 ARM

- 1/l 00/ 1 05:Program Office AFS-80 

### MR. J> 

### AUL G. APPLEWHITE APPLEWHITE AERO P.O. BOX 

### 46955 SEATTLE , WA 98146 2

# Federal Aviation Administration 

# Memorandum Dale: To: From:
Pr

epar ed by: Subject: AUG -8 20t4 

### John Dnnean, Director, Flight StandaMs Service, AFS-1



# ~ •. ,/ Mark W. Bury, Asststant C lu cfCounse l for lnternatiOna · t



# /{1':-f::Cg,~arot and R

eg ulati ons, AGC -200 Dean 

### E. Griffith, Attorney, AGC-220 i nterpretation regarding whether certain r equired documents may be kept at an unmnnn cd airc;·aft's co ntrol s tation.

This mem ora ndum addr esses whether the pilot of an unmanned aircraft may keep airworthin ess cer t ificat es, aircraft manu als, and aircraft registration certificates nt the munanncd aircraft's groun d control station and sat isfy the regulatory requirements of sec ti ons 91.9(b), 91.203(a) and (b), 47 .3(b)(2) , and 47.31 (c) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. This question has been bro u gh t to ou r attention because of the impracticality of p lacing these documen ts on a sma ll aircraft wi th no pilo t o n board. As discus sed below, w e find that th e int ent of the se reg u l ations is m

et 

### if the pil ot of the unmanned airc r aft ha s access t o the se documents at the control s tation from which he or she is operating t he nircraft. Section 91.9(b) prohibits operation of U.S.-rcgis t ered civil aircrnfl unless "there is availab le in the aircraft" an Airplane or Roton:raft Flight Manual or

**oth~::r** lllntcrial, mar king s and placnrds. T he FAA stat ed that t he purpose of this rule is to " insur e t hat the informati o n is readily available to th e p il ot" f or usc during ope r ati ons. 

### See 40 fee l. Reg. 24665 (June 9, 1975) , 37 Fed. Reg. 20022 (Sept. 23, 1972). The text o[th e ru le and preamble to subseque nt revisions of th e rule confirm the intent that th e pi lot is to have access to the material during flight. Accordingly, we find that th e intent of th e rule is met if the information is maintained at the pilot's control s tation such that it is available to the pilot. Sec tion 9 1. 203(a) pro hibit s operati o n of n c ivil a ircr aft "unless it has w ith in it" an appropriat e and curr ent airworthin ess ce rtifi cate and the aircraft's regis tration certili cati on . Section 91.203(b) requires that the airwo rthiness ccrti ficate be "disp layed at the cabin or cockp it entrance so that it is l egible to passengers or crew." Simil:lrly, sections 47.3(b)(2) and 47.31(e) allow an applicant for aircraft r egistration to carry "in th e aircraft" the second copy ofthe registration application as t emporary authority to operate without registration. These documents demonstrate that the ai r craft is appropria t e l

y certificated and r egistered, or is in the proc ess of be in g r eg is t ered. Additionally , th e FAA has previo u sly add r essed the requirement to di sp lay th e2 airwort hiness certificate nnd f o und that the n:gulation permits disp l ayi n g t he certificate so that it is only l eg ible to th e fli gh t crew eve n if not legible to passengers. 

### See L egal Interpretation to Leonard A. Ceruzz i, fi·orn Donald P. Bymc , Act in g Ass istant Chief Counsel, Regulations and Enforce m e nt Division (Aug. 7, 1990). ;\ccordingly, we find that maintaining these documents at the pil ot's co ntro l s t at i on would meet the intl!n t of t he ru l e as the pilot would be able t o product: th e docu m e nt s f or hi s o r h e r own informat i o n or t o an FAA in s pector. We note that this memorandum is t o be narrowly construed t o tHmHmned airc raft sys t cms and is not intended t o apply t o ope r ation of manned aircraft or optionally pi l oted aircraft with a pilo t o n board

.