July 17, 2015 Triangle AirShots, LLC

2917 Woodslope Dr.

Raleigh, NC 27610

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, Triangle AirShots, LLC, 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, 

T-600 Inspire 1, Phantom 2 and Phantom 3 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 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 second person called a Visual Observer (VO) a person who visually tracks 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 commercial videography and 

photography, structure inspections, marketing imagery, and private event imagery, land 

surveying and topographic survey, 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, and it operates at lower altitudes with no people on board and will

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

or serious bodily injury. With a small payload and maximum flight time of less than 1⁄2 an hour,

this 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 would be to charter a full-sized helicopter or airplane 

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 of the UA imagery will be 

valuable to and benefit many businesses, organizations, and individuals who have commercial 

and personal interest in legal uses for such imagery. 

Additionally, we request that we be allowed to use the ME 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 Visual 

Flight Rules (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).

The PIC and VO will meet the requirements outlined in FAA Policy N 8900.227 Section 16

Personnel Qualifications (8900.227). Additionally, the PIC and VO will perform maintenance on 

the system and will review and be familiar with manufacturer suggested UA maintenance as 

part of their initial training. 

Attachment Page 1 of 4

ATTACHMENT: EXEMPTION REQUESTS AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY 

Triangle AirShots, LLC 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: 

1. 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. 

2. If an experimental airworthiness certificate as described above 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 below: 

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. 

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." With such a limited gross weight 

as outlined herein, 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 
Attachment Page 2 of 4

requirement of 14 CFR 45.23 (see below), which follows immediately after the proposed 

placard description below:

EXPERIMENTAL 

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

Models: T-600 Inspire 1, Phantom 3 and Phantom 2 

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 will 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 paragraph 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 
Attachment Page 3 of 4

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 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 groundbased 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 

sufficient space to allow for safe maneuvering of the ME System while not endangering 

people, vessels, vehicles, or structures. We will only fly over property with the permission of 

the subject property's owner or the owner's representative. The aircraft will not be operated 

over congested areas or over any open air assembly of persons. The property owner or 

owner's representative 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.

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 less than 1⁄2 an hour, including a 20% reserve. 

Since the aircraft will never fly more than 3/4 NM from the point of intended landing at a max 

AGL of 400, a full battery charge at launch will ensure that we meet the reserve energy 

requirement of this paragraph and can make a safe landing upon activation of reserve battery 
Attachment Page 4 of 4

power. We request an exemption from the word "fuel" and ask for an equivalent interpretation 

with the word "energy". We further request that the method described in this paragraph be 

substituted for the requirement to be able to fly for 30 minutes beyond the point of intended 

landing. 

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, tightening or 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 has a small 

maximum gross weight (as specified herein), 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 visual line of sight 

(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 the UA; a state issued driver’s license serves as verification that the 

PIC and VO are 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 

f) (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; 

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

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

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

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

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

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

m) Operations will be restricted to day only and weather conditions equivalent to Visual Flight 

Rules (VFR); 

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

flight at each new location; 

o) 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 

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

 Propellers are mounted correctly and firmly. 

 Micro-SD card has been inserted if necessary. 

 Gimbal is functioning as normal. 

 Motors can start and are functioning as normal. 

 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.
APPENDIX B – OWNER’S MANUAL FOR UA(s)

1. http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/inspire_1/fr/Inspire_1_Quick_Start_Guide_fr.pdf

2. http://download.djiinnovations.com/downloads/phantom_2_vision_plus/en/Phantom_2_Vision_Plus_User_Manual

_v1.8_en.pdf

3. http://download.djiinnovations.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_User_Manual_v1.2_en.pd

f