Brian A. Brewer 

86 Hollister Hill

Mineral Bluff, GA

404-643-6964

babrewer@usa.net

February 17, 2016

U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations 

West Building Ground Floor, RoomW12-140 

1200 New Jersey Avenue

SE Washington, DC 20590 

Dear Sir or Madam: 

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the 

Reform Act), I, Brian A. Brewer on this day of February 17, 2016, apply for an 

exemption from Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) detailed below to allow for 

commercial operations of a DJI Phantom 3 Professional four rotor Unmanned 

Aircraft Systems (UAS) with an attached DJI gimbal mount holding a 4K, 1080p 

camera for the purpose of real estate photography and video.

The Reform Act allows the FAA to establish requirements for the safe operation of 

such aircraft systems in the national airspace system. I, Brian A. Brewer will 

ensure the Phantom 3 Professional is operated with the following safety equipment 

and safe operating procedures in place and in a manner which benefits the public.

Phantom 3 Professional Safety and Design Features 

• The DJI Phantom 3 Professional has a length of 590mm and a maximum speed 

of 16 Meters per second.

• The Phantom 3 Professional utilizes GPS/GLONASS location and is controlled 

by a 2.4 GHz transmitter. 

• The Phantom 3 Professional has a maximum takeoff weight of less than three 

pounds, so it is very lightweight and small compared to a larger manned aircraft.

• The Phantom 3 Professional offers state of the art safety features, very low levels 

of noise, very easy controllability, and is battery operated benefiting the 

environment where as large manned aircraft does not provide.
• The Phantom 3 Professional provides several safety features such as Failsafe 

mode and Automatic Return Home feature with a push of a button or if signal 

between the pilot in command and Phantom 3 Professional is lost.

• The Phantom 3 Professional features GPS based altitude and distance restrictions 

along with warnings of battery life and limits flight time according to battery life, 

engaging automatic return home mode at that point. 

It should be noted that for if any reason signal with the transmitter be lost, the 

aircraft will automatically return to point of origin should signal with the 

transmitter be lost.

Safe Operating Procedures 

• All operation will incorporate the use of the b4ufly app by the pilot in charge or 

visual operator to ensure there are no restrictions or safety issues present. 

• No use of the Phantom 3 Professional would occur in heavily populated areas or 

gatherings to ensure safety of the public.

• The Phantom 3 Professional would never begin a flight operation unless the 

battery is fully charged. Additional fully charged batteries will be on hand to 

ensure safe operation from a battery charge standpoint 

• All flight operations would cease and the UAS would return to the takeoff 

position should the battery charge level approach or reach below 30% of full 

charge. 

• No use would occur near major highways or road systems, restricted areas, 

government property or buildings, or wildfires.

• All non-essential personnel will be at a minimum of 200 feet away from the 

Phantom 3 operations. If at any time non-essential personnel come within these 

guidelines, operations of the Phantom 3 Professional will cease immediately.

• All operations shall take place during daylight hours under suitable conditions 

equivalent to Visual Flight Rules with the Phantom 3 Professional being no more 

than 3⁄4 NM from the pilot in command along with a visual observer (essential 

personnel).

• All operations will be conducted at Visual Line Of Sight (VLOS) at no more than 

200 feet AGL at all times.

• All operations will have a pilot in command and a visual observer (myself) 

present and all operations will be within line of sight of the pilot in command 

and visual observer to ensure that safety is maintained.

• The Phantom 3 Professional will yield to all manned aircraft at all times and all 

the required permits and permissions will be obtained from local and state 

government, home owners association should they be required.
• Every operation will include a pre-flight check by the pilot in command to 

ensure the Phantom 3 is safe to fly, operational, not damaged and meets the 

manufacturers specifications to fly safely, and not in any condition to pose a 

threat to anyone on the ground.

• Prior to operations, a pre job flight safety meeting will occur and be documented, 

recording and discussing any hazards or safety concerns and mitigations. 

Location of operations, parameters, weather conditions, duration of flight and 

route of flight will be included.

• A post-flight inspection will occur for added safety.

I, Brian A. Brewer, believe that safety is paramount, and this would be my primary 

focus in operating the Phantom 3 Professional. Unless and until requirements are 

changed, the pilot in command would hold either an airline transport, commercial, 

private, recreational or sport pilot certificate. I, Brian A. .Brewer, would be the 

visual observer of the aircraft at all times.

Public Benefits 

Prior to the advent UAS aircraft such as the Phantom 3 Professional, ariel 

photography for real estate has traditionally been done by rotary or fixed wing 

aircraft and thus was very expensive for the property owner, builder or real estate 

agency/brokerage. Even when deemed cost effective, the use of rotary or fixed 

wing aircraft poses both noise and safety issues. The consequence of an ultralight 

UAS crashing is far less than a full size helicopter or fixed wing aircraft; which are 

heavy, contain combustible fuel and can cause significant devastation to the public. 

In contract, the Phantom 3 Professional is unmanned, operates at low altitudes, 

does not run on combustible fuel, has very low decibel level noise emissions in 

comparison to rotary and fixed wing aircraft, has a small payload capacity and 

short flight time, thus significantly reducing current risk levels involved with 

utilizing manned aircraft for aerial photography. 

The availability of cost effective and safe ariel photography for real estate purposes 

will benefit the economy as a whole as it will lower the cost of producing high 

quality photography for real estate brokers/agents while at the same time 

enhancing the safety of such activities.
Exemption Requests 

Brian A. Brewer, requests an exemption from the following regulations as well as 

any additional regulations that may technically apply to the operation of the 

Phantom 3 Professional UAS. 

14 CFR Part21, Subpart H

Air worthiness Certificates

This part establishes the procedures for the issuance of an airworthiness certificate. 

While the FAA continues to work to develop airworthiness standards for UAS, 

Brian A. Brewer requests an experimental certificate be issued for the UAS 

operated by the applicant under either or both of the following provisions: 

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, I would expect that an experimental 

certificate would permit our commercial purpose as well. The aircraft will not 

carry persons or property and will only fly under strict operational requirements. 

As the Phantom 3 Professional UAS also carries no combustible fuel, weighs less 

than 3 pounds and is constructed primarily of plastics and composites, I propose 

the UAS is at least as safe, if not significantly safer than conventionally certified 

aircraft used within similar parameters.

If an experimental airworthiness certificate is not appropriate for this application, 

then Brian A. Brewer requests an exemption of 14 CFR Part21, Subpart H, and the 

requirement for an airworthiness certificate in general, citing the equivalent level 

of safety outlined in the previous paragraph. 
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 he airworthiness certificate be 

"displayed at the cabin or cockpit entrance so that it is legible to passengers or

crew.”

As the UAS is too small to carry documentation, does not have an entrance and 

does not carry a crew, I propose the following in order to meet the intent of 91.203 

and provide an equivalent level of safety: 

All documents deemed appropriate by the FAA for this aircraft will be located at 

the operational ground station for each flight in proximity to the Pilot in command 

and VO and will be available for inspection on request. In order to identify the air 

craft, we propose to use the manufacturers model and production codes located on 

the aircraft as well as appropriate registration numbers and the telephone number 

of the manufacturer and Brian A. Brewer affixed to the aircraft as well. 

Should the FAA deem appropriate, we will also affix the word 

“EXPERIMENTAL” in the largest possible lettering given the size of the UAS, as 

discussed further below. 

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. 

As the UAS does not have an entrance, may not have an FAA assigned registration 

number and is of such small size, we propose to affix the word 

“EXPERIMENTAL” in the largest possible lettering appropriate for the aircraft. 

Additionally, for each operation the ground station will be clearly identified with a 

banner containing the words “UAS Ground Station” that will be of appropriate size 
to be seen by any observer of the aircraft operations. The ground station will also 

have all registration and identity documents relating to the UAS. 

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. The intent of this requirement is to 

ensure that flight manual information is available to the aircrew while operating 

the aircraft. 

Brian A. Brewer requests an exemption to this requirement as the UAS cannot, 

given its size, carry the flight manual. To meet an equivalent level of safety, we 

propose to have the current manufacturers flight manual available to both the Pilot 

in command and VO. 

14 CFR 91.109 

Flight instruction 

Simulated instrument flight and certain flight tests. The regulation provides that 

"No person may operate a civil aircraft that is being used for flight instruction 

unless that aircraft has fully functioning dual controls." 

The controls for the UAS do not currently have a set of fully functioning dual 

controls. If a UAS pilot is being trained, the pilot performing the training would be 

directly supervising and could take over the control s from the pilot in training if 

the need arose. This would be similar to the technique of a "throw over type" 

control wheel in some fixed wing aircraft. I feel that this technique meets the 

intent 91 .109 and provides an equivalent level of safety and thus Brian A. Brewer 

requests an exemption to this requirement. 

14 CFR 91.119 

Minimum safe altitudes

General.The regulation provides that over sparsely populated areas the aircraft 

cannot be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. 

Since the UAS will be operating at a maximum 200 feet AGL, we cannot comply 

with this requirement and thus Brian A. Brewer requests an exemption to this 

requirement.
14 CFR 9l.l21

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

Brian A. Brewer requests an exemption to this requirement as the UAV will always 

be flying below 200 feet AGL within VLOS of the Pilot in command and VO that 

will provide separation from terrain, structures and other aircraft. The UAS will 

continually transmit an AGL reading back to the controller at the ground station 

and the AGL lock in the UAS’s software will be set to 200 feet, providing an 

equivalent level of safety. 

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. 

I feel that the intention here is to provide a reserve of fuel to remain aloft should a 

landing be delayed or the landing point changed. The UAS is smart battery 

powered and continually transmits battery charge information back to the ground 

station to be evaluated by the Pilot in command who will return the UAS back to 

the ground station when the battery shows 20% remaining capacity. 

14 CFR Subpart E (91.40191.4171 

Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, and 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.

I propose that the Pilot in command perform maintenance and inspection and “be 

authorized to approve the aircraft for return to service.
Summary 

It is my belief that the small size of the Phantom 3 Professional UAS, the basic 

operating parameters outlined above, the specific exemptions discussed above, the 

fully trained, and vetted crew and the equivalent level of safety provided at a much 

lower cost to the general public will allow the FAA to grant an exemption to 

myself, Brian A. Brewer for commercial UAS aerial photography operations under 

the Reform Act of 2012.

A Detailed User Manual and Specifications are available at the following link: 

Phantom 3 Professional User Manual : https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/

phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Professional_User_Manual__V1.6.pdf

Sincerely, 

Brian A. Brewer 

86 Hollister Hill

Mineral Bluff, GA

404-643-6964

babrewer@usa.net