Below please find revised text for the “ Comments ” porti on of our Request for Exemption ( FAA

- 2016

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0363

- 0008 ) as per US DOT/FAA Request for Additi onal Inform ation ( FAA

- 2016

- 0363

- 0009 ) . This tex t is
intended a s an update to the tex t originally submitted in Response to RFIA ( F AA

- 2016

- 0363

- 0010 ).



# 14 CFR 91.151(a)

Exemption to 14 CFR, Section 91.151, Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions

Section 91.151 (a) prescribes that no person may begin a flight in an airplane under VFR conditions unless (con sidering wind and forecast weather conditions) there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed, (1) during the day, to fly after that for at least 30
minutes. (b) No person may begin a flight in a roto rcraft under VFR conditions unless (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed, to fly after that for at least 20 minutes.

The current standard condition in FAA exemptions under section 333 is to require 5 minutes of reserve power instead of the 30 minute and 20 minute requirements above, in recognition of the low altitude of sUAS operations and their ability to be brought down to the ground safel y in less than one minute. Because of the local nature of the operations, this will provide an equal level of safety for all EVLOS research operations.

PrecisionHawk will be operating UAVs for these experimental trials. The PrecisionHawk UAV (Lancaster

MK III) has a total flight endurance of up to 45 minutes. The UAV uses a battery charge estimation algorithm that automatically lands the UAV with approximately 2 minutes of flight time left over. The PrecisionHawk PICs will not begin a UAS flight unless (c onsidering wind and forecast weather conditions) there is enough available power for UAS to operate for the intended operational time, and to operate
thereafter for at least five minutes. As such, PrecisionHawk is requesting an exemption to 14 CFR,
Sectio n 91.151 (a) to be consistent with the FAA’s policy under section 333.

It is anticipated that 14 CFR §91.113 See and Avoid will be waived as a part of the COA process, and so it is not included in the list of exemption petitions. However, to be clear about the view of thi s section, the following is provided. The pilot in command has a responsibility to see any intruder aircraft at all times and must avoid any intruding aircraft. This EVLOS operation will be a “See and Avoid” operation at all times. During the research flights a Safety Ob server (SO) will be stationed next to the pilot in command as an extra set of eyes to supplement the pilot’s observation of the sky. The remote visual observer will be part of the flight crew to enhance situational awareness of the pilot in command and to maintain visual surveillance of the airspace in which the UAV is flying at all times. Prior to conducting UAS operation a notification will be sent out to impacted aviation community to ensure awareness andenhance safety, and a NOTAM will be filed for eve ry day that flight activities will be conducted. These

requirements for the flight crew obligation to see traffic and the pilot’s responsibility to maneuver to avoid the traffic combined with the notification provisions and the NOTAM will provide an equiva lent level of safety.

In addition, approval of this exemption will benefit the public by enabling the FAA's Pathfinder prog ram to eventually extend the commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the NAS to include extended and beyond visual line of sight operations, thereby opening up countless new commercial opportunities
for American businesses. The Pathfinder initiative is a public

- private partnership with the FAA with the objective of expanding the current regulatory framework for the benefit of the Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle industry at large. Under EVLOS op erations a UAS operator will be able to conduct its agriculture analysis over a much larger area, possibly 5 times as large, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of this air commerce and providing a better service to the farmers and property owners. In addi tion to this improved service, the cost of these services can be reduced through economies of scale.