June 25, 2015

Exemption No. 11900 Regulatory Docket No. FAA

– 20 15

– 1316

Mr. Dave Woll

PO Box 60030 Grayslake, IL 60030

Dear Mr. Woll :

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your request for exemption. It transmits our decision, explains its basis, and gives you the conditions and limitations of the exemption, including the date it ends.

By letter dated April 14, 2015 , you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administrat ion (FAA). The petitioner requested to operate an unmanned ai rcraft system (UAS) to conduct aerial videography and photography of privately owned real estate

.

See Appendix A for the petition submitted to the FAA describing the proposed operations and

the regulations that the petitioner seeks an exemption

.

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition in the Federal Register because the requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on t his petition would be detrimental to the petitioner.

Airworthiness Certification

The UAS proposed by the petitioner are the DJI Phantom Vision+ and DJI Phantom 3.

The petitioner requested relief from 14 CFR part 21, Certification procedures for products and parts, Subpart H

— Airworthiness Certificates . In accordance with the statutory criteria provided in Section 333 of P ublic Law 112

− 95 in reference to 49 U

. S

. C

. § 44704, and in consideration of the size, weight, speed, and limited operating area associated with the2

aircraft and its operation, the Secretary of Transportation has determined that this aircraft

meets the conditions of Section 333. Therefore, the FAA finds that the requested relief from

14 CFR part 21

, Certification procedures for pro ducts and parts, Subpart H

— Airworthiness Certificates , and any associated noise certification and testing requirements of part 36, is

not necessary.

The Basis for Our Decision

You have requested to use a UAS for aerial data collection 1

. The FAA has issued grants of exemption in circumstances similar in all material respects to those presented in your petition. In Grants of Exemption No s

. 11062 to Astraeus Aerial ( see Docket No. FAA−2014−0352), 11109 to Clayco, Inc. ( see Docket No. FAA

− 20 14

− 0507), 11112 to VDOS Global, LLC ( see Docket No. FAA−2014−0382), and 11213 to Aeryon Lab s , Inc. ( see Docket No. FAA−2014−0642), the FAA found that the enhanced safety achieved using an unmanned aircraft (UA) with the specifications described by the peti tioner and carrying no passengers or crew, rather than a manned aircraft of significantly greater proportions, carrying crew in addition to flammable fuel, gives the FAA good cause to find that the UAS operation enabled by this exemption is in the public i nterest.

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemption, I find that

—

• They are similar in all material respects to relief previously requested in Grant of Exemption Nos. 11062, 11109, 11112, and 11213 ;

• The reasons stated by the FAA for granting Exemption Nos. 11062, 11109, 11112, and

11213 also apply to the situation you present; and

• A grant of exemption is in the public interest.

Our Decision

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a grant of exemption is in the public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 40113, and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, Dave Woll is granted an exemption from 14 CFR §§ 61.23(a) and ( c ), 61.101(e)(4 ) and (5), 61.113(a), 61.315(a) , 91.7(a), 91.119(c), 91.121, 91.151(a)(1), 91.405(a), 91.407(a)(1), 91.409(a)(1) and (2), and 91.417(a) and (b), to the extent necessary to allow the petitioner to operate a UAS to perform aerial data collection. This exemption is sub ject to the conditions and limitations listed below.

1 Aerial data collection includes any remote sensing and measuring by an instrument(s) aboard the UA. Examples include imagery (photography, video, infrared, etc.), electronic mea surement (precision surveying, RF analysis, etc.), chemical measurement (particulate measurement, etc.), or any other gathering of data by

instruments aboard the UA.3

Conditions and Limitations

In this grant of exemption, Dave Woll is hereafter referred to as the operator.

Failure to comply with any of the conditions and limitations of this grant of exemption will be grounds for the immediate suspension or rescission of this exemption.

1. Operations authorized by this grant of exemption are limited to the DJI Phantom

Vision+ and DJI Phantom 3 when weighing less than 55 pounds including payload. Proposed operations o f any other aircraft will require a new petition or a petition to

amend this exemption

.

2. Operations for the purpose of closed

- set motion picture and television filming are

not permitted.

3. The UA may not be operated at a speed exceeding 87 knots (100 miles per hour). The exemption holder may use either groundspeed or calibrated airspeed to determine compliance with the 87 knot speed restriction. In no case will the UA be operated at airspeeds greater than the maximum UA operating airspeed recommended by t he

aircraft manufacturer.

4. The UA must be operated at an altitude of no more than 400 feet above ground level (AGL). Altitude must be reported in feet AGL.

5. The UA must be operated within visual line of sight (VLOS) of the PIC at all times. This requires the PIC to be able to use human vision unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, as specified on the PIC’s FAA

- issued airman medical certificate or

U.S. driver’s license.

6. All operations must utilize a visual observer (VO). The UA must be opera ted within the visual line of sight (VLOS) of the PIC and VO at all times. The VO may be used to satisfy the VLOS requirement as long as the PIC always maintains VLOS capability. The VO and PIC must be able to communicate verbally at all times ;

e lectron ic messaging or texting is not permitted during flight operations. The PIC must be designated before the flight and cannot transfer his or her designation for the duration of the flight. The PIC must ensure that the VO can perform the duties required of the VO.

7. This exemption and all documents needed to operate the UAS and conduct its operations in accordance with the conditions and limitations stated in this grant of exemption, are hereinafter referred to as the operating documents. The operating

docum ents must be accessible during UAS operations and made available to the Administrator upon request. If a discrepancy exists between the conditions and limitations in this exemption and the procedures outlined in the operating documents,4

the conditions and limitations herein take precedence and must be followed. Otherwise, the operator must follow the procedures as outlined in its operating documents. The operator may update or revise its operating documents. It is the operator’s responsibility to track such revisions and present updated and revised documents to the Administrator or any law enforcement official upon request. The operator must also present updated and revised documents if it petitions for extension or amendment to this grant of exemption. If the operator determines that any update or revision would affect the basis upon which the FAA granted this exemption, then the operator must petition for an amendment to its grant of exemption. The FA A’s UAS Integration Office (AFS− 80) may be contact ed if questions arise regarding updates or revisions to the operating documents.

8. Any UAS that has undergone maintenance or alterations that affect the UAS operation or flight characteristics, e.g.

, replacement of a flight critical component, must undergo a functional test flight prior to conducting further operations under this exemption. Functional test flights may only be conducted by a PIC with a VO and must remain at

least 500 feet from other people. The functional test flight must be conducted in su ch a manner so as to not pose an undue hazard to persons and property.

9. The operator is responsible for maintaining and inspecting the UAS to ensure that it is in a condition for safe operation.

10. Prior to each flight, the PIC must conduct a pre

- flight insp ection and determine the UAS is in a condition for safe flight. The pre

- flight inspection must account for all potential discrepancies, e.g.

, inoperable components, items, or equipment. If the inspection reveals a condition that affects the safe operatio n of the UAS, the aircraft is prohibited from operating until the necessary maintenance has been performed and the UAS is found to be in a condition for safe flight.

11. The operator must follow the UAS manufacturer’s maintenance, overhaul, replacement, inspection, and life limit requirements for the aircraft and

aircraft components.

12. Each UAS operated under this exemption must comply with all manufacturer safety bulletins.

13. Under this grant of exemption, a PIC must hold either an airline transport, commercial, private, recreational, or sport pilot certificate. The PIC must also hold a current FAA airman medical certificate or a valid U.S. driver’s license issued by a state, the District of Col u mbia, Puerto Rico, a territory, a pos session, or the Federal government. The PIC must also meet the flight revi ew requirements specified in

14 CFR § 61.56 in an aircraft in which the PIC is rated on his or her pilot certificate.5

14. The operator may not permit any PIC to operate unless the PIC demonstrates the ability to safely operate the UAS in a manner consistent with how the UAS will be operated under this exemption, including evasive and emergency maneuvers and maintaining appropriate distances from persons, vessels, vehicles and structures . PIC qualification flight hours and currency must be logged in a manner consistent with

14 CFR § 61.51(b). Flights for the purposes of training the operator’s PICs and VOs (traini ng, proficiency, and experience

- building) and determining the PIC’s abilit y to safely operate the UAS in a manner consistent with how the UAS will be operated under this exemption are permitted under the terms of this exemption. However, training operations may only be conducted during dedicated training sessions. During

train i ng, proficiency, and experience

- building flights, all persons not essential for flight operations are considered nonparticipants, and the PIC must operate the UA with appropriate distance from nonparticipants in accordance with 14 CFR § 91.119.

15. UAS opera tions may not be conducted during night, as defined in 14 CFR § 1.1. All operations must be conducted under visual meteorological conditions (VMC). Flights under special visual flight rules (SVFR) are not authorized.

16. The UA may not operate within 5 naut ical miles of an airport reference point (ARP) as denoted in the current FAA Airport/Facility Directory (AFD) or for airports not denoted with an ARP, the center of the airport symbo l as denoted on the current

FAA

- published aeronautical chart, unless a let ter of agreement with that airport’s management is obtained or otherwise permitted by a COA issued to the exemption holder. The letter of agreement with the airport management must be made available to the Administrator or any law enforcement official upon request.

17. The UA may not be operated less than 500 feet below or less than 2,000 feet horizontally from a cloud or when visibility is less than 3 statute miles from the PIC.

18. If the UAS loses communications or loses its GPS sign al, the UA must return to a

pre

- determined location within the pr ivate or controlled

- access property.

19. The PIC must abort the flight in the event of unpredicted obstacles or emergencies.

20. The PIC is prohibited from beginning a flight unless (considering wind and forecast

weather conditions) there is enough available power for the UA to conduct the intended operation and to operate after that for at least five minutes or with the reserve power recommended by the manufacturer if greater.

21. Air Traffic Organization (ATO) Certificate o f Waiver or Authorization (COA). All operations shall be cond ucted in accordance with an ATO

- issued COA. The exemption holder may apply for a new or amended COA if it intends to conduct operations that cannot be conducted under the terms of the attached COA

.6

22. All aircraft operated in accordance with this exemption must be identified by serial number, registered in accordance with 14 CFR part 47, and have identification (N− Number) markings in accordance with 14 CFR part 45, Subpart C. Markings must

be as large as practicable.

23. Documents used by the operator to ensure the safe operation and flight of the UAS and any documents required under 14 CFR §§ 91.9 and 91.203 must be available to the PIC at the Ground Control Station of the UAS any time the aircraft is operating. These documents must be made available to the Administrator or any law enforcement official upon request.

24. The UA must remain clear and give way to all manned aviation operations and

activities at all times.

25. The UAS may not be operated by the PIC from any moving device or vehicle.

26. All Flight operations must be conducted at least 500 feet from all nonparticipating persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures unless:

a. Barriers or structures are present that sufficiently protect nonparticipatin g persons from the UA and/or debris in the event of an accident. The operator must ensure that nonparticipating persons remain under such protection. If a situation arises where nonparticipating persons leave such protection and are within 500 feet of

th e UA, flight operations must cease immediately in a manner ensuring the safety of nonparticipating persons ; and

b. The owner/controller of any vessels, vehicles or structures has granted permission for operating closer to those objects and the PIC has made a safety assessment of the risk of operating closer to those objects and determined that it does not present an undue hazard.

The PIC, VO, operator trainees or essential persons are not considered nonparticipating persons under this exemption.

27. All operations shall be conducted over private or control led

- access property with permission from the property owner/controller or authorized representative. Permission from property owner/controller or authorized representative will be obtained for each flig ht to be conducted.

28. Any incident, accident, or flight operation that transgresses the lateral or vertical boundaries of the operational area as defined by the applicable COA must be reported

to the FA A's UAS Integration Office (AFS− 80) within 24 hours. A ccidents must be reported to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) per instructions

contained on the NTSB Web site: www.ntsb.gov

.7

If this exemption permits operations for the purpose of closed

- set motion picture and television filming and production, the following additional conditions and limitations apply.

29. The operator must have a motion picture and television operations manual (MPTOM) as documented in this grant of exemption.

30. At least 3 days before ae rial filming, the operator of the UAS affected by this exemption must submit a written Plan of Activities to the local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) with jurisdiction over the a rea of proposed filming. The 3

- day notification may be waived with t he concurrence of the FSDO. The plan of activities must include at least the following:

a. Dates and times for all flights;

b. Name and phone number of the operator for the UAS aerial filming conducted under this grant of exemption;

c. Name and phone number of th e person responsible for the on

- scene operation of the UAS;

d. Make, model, and serial or N− Number of UAS to be used;

e. Name and certificate number of UAS PICs involved in the aerial filming;

f. A statement that the operator has obtained permission from property ow ners and/or local officials to conduct the filming production event; the list of those who gave permission must be made available to the inspector upon request;

g. Signature of exemption holder or representative; and

h. A description of the flight activity, incl uding maps or diagrams of any area, city, town, county, and/or state over which filming will be conducted and the altitudes essential to accomplish the operation.

31. Flight operations may be conducted closer than 500 feet from participating persons consenting to be involved and necessary for the filming production, as specified in the exemption holder’s MPTOM.

Unless otherwise specified in this grant of exemption, the UAS, the UAS PIC, and the UAS operations must comply with all applicable parts of 14 CFR including, but not limited to,

parts 45, 47, 61, and 91.8

This exemption terminates on June 30, 2017 , unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Sincerely,

/ s/

John S. Duncan Director, Flight Standards Service

Enclosures

### April 14 th 

### , 2015

Dave W oll

PO BOX 60030

Grayslake, IL 60030

Docket Management Facility U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SEW est Building, Ground Floor, Room W 12

- 140 W ashington, DC 20590

Dear Exemption Manager, Re: **Docket Number FA A** 

**- 2015** 

**- 0150** 

I am submitting my Petition for Exemption for Unmanned Aircraft Sy stems operations. I am currently a FAA licensed private pilot with over 77.5 flight hours. I have been a private pilot since 2003.

I take the skills and educatio n for the safe operation of UAS, very seriously. These are UAS’s are not Toys.

My request is for a waiver of the sections identified below in an effort to operate a UAS in public. I recognize the importance of extreme privacy as I have been in situations where I have had to adhere to an environment, and culture, that is based on such privacy. Additionally, I have many times in the past been entrusted with the possession of highly confidential information working on various engineering projects with militar y and

commercial customers.

I reference the FAA announcement dated April 23, 2015, 2015 http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=82485 which includes language that references

the FAA’s experience in reviewing Section 333 petitions and that they seem

to be generally falling into two categories ie: film/television

### production and aerial data

collection, and that most of the exemption requests in these categories **wi ll likel**  **y be** 

**handled through the new summary grant process** 

.

Wi th my clear unde rstanding of FAA rules, my awareness of operational and restricted

airspace, my experience as a pilot license holder (even though The FAA is lowering the

credential bar to include sport pilot certificates), and my attitude of safety first when it

comes to flight operations, I believe I should be granted an exemption.



## 1

My request for a waiver of the section is not for operations for the purpose of “closed

- set

motion picture and television filming” but are identified below.

My request is to operate a UAS for commercial purposes. Specifically, to “record digital

video data and other aerial photography data of privately owned fee simple real estate

which will assist an owner in the promotion of their improved/unimproved parce l of land,

for ultimate disposition and sale” or “other promotional purposes (ie. a country club

### wanting to promote its facilities)”. Any complaint by a neighboring

member of the public

complaining of even a hint of invasion of privacy, founded in fact or not, and even within

the private boundaries of the specific land parcel owner, and with the camera lens facing

inward and focused only onto an owners parcel, will instantly be honored, resulting in

immediate termination of aerial operations.

**I am cu rrentl**  **y seeking exemption of:** 

Section of 14 CFR: parts 21 Subpart H, 27, 45.23(b), 45.27(a), 61.113(a) and (b), 61.133(a), 91.7(a), 91.9(b)(2), 91.103, 91.109(a), 91.119, 91.121, 91.151(a), 91.203(a) and (b), 91.319(a)(1), 91.405(a), 91.407(a)(1), 91.409( a)(2), 91.417(a) and (b). If I have erroneously omitted any other relevant section or, overstated any relevant section for my intended operations, please feel free to suggest the missing or overstated section(s).

**Suggested Public Federal Register Summar y:** 

“The petitioner is seeking an exemption to operate an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) under the new FAA “Summary Grant” approach, announced April 9 th 

### , 2015 http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=82485 that will help speed up Section 333 exemption approva ls for many commercial UAS operators prior to finalizing the small UAS proposed rules published this past February.

It is my understanding that the FAA will still review each Section 333 petition individually. However, I am hoping that the agency

will acc ept my particular petition, and include it in the next summary grant, and issue me an exemption on the presumption that the FAA has “already granted a previous exemption similar to this request”.

### Apparently, the new interim policy includes the granting of a

Certificate of W aiver or Authorization (COA) for flights at or below 200 feet to any UAS operator with a Section 333 exemption for aircraft that weigh less than 55 pounds, operate during daytime Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions, operate

within visua l line of sight (VLOS) of the pilots, and stay certain distances away from airports or heliports such as 5 nautical miles (NM) from an airport having an operational control tower; or 3 NM from an airport with a published instrument flight procedure, but no t an operational tower; or 2 NM from an airport without a published instrument flight procedure or an operational tower; or 2 NM from a heliport with a published instrument flight procedure. It is also understood that the “blanket” 200

- foot COA
allows fli ghts anywhere in the country except restricted airspace and other areas, such as major cities, where the FAA prohibits UAS operations.

**UA S Description:** 

I am asking for an exemption for a UAS up to 55 pounds because I forecast I will be using a craft that will be flown operationally, weighing less than ten pounds and more specifically a DJI Phantom Vision + , or DJI Phantom 3, and will be qualified as a UAS.



## 2

In the event a loss of communications occurs the craft will rise up vertically to a safe height before beginning an automatic return to home function. The control signal may be reconnected in flight and the pilot can take over safe operations again if
communication is reestablished. However in the case of a GPS
failure the craft will be able t o be manually flown to a safe landing by the pilot. The craft operates electrically, carries no flammable fuel, has an integrated GPS pilot system, provides location information along with height AGL, speed, battery life, has programmed no

- fly zones for co ntrolled airports, and

### provides direction of travel distance from the pilot.

**Ad ditional Points:** 

It is my hope that you find that the enhanced safety achieved using an unmanned aircraft with the specifications described by the petitioner which carries no passengers or crew, rather than a manned aircraft of significantly greater proportions, carrying crew in addition to flammable fuel, gives the FAA good cause to find that the UAS operation enabled by this exemption is in the public

interest.

**Flight Operat ions:**  I am well aware of conducting safe flight operations and planning flight paths that minimize any overflight of crowds. Flights will end when battery reserve reaches 25 percent. Operations will not occur under IFR conditions. In addition, preflight an d post

- flight checklists and UAS examinations will help detect any abnormalities prior to flight and after flight. Any UAS unable to satisfy safety checklists will be
removed from service until the issue can be resolved.

Granting this request would not adversely affect safety since operations would be in accordance with current UAS rules.

**Section 333 Compliance and Ap**  **propriateness:** Based on the size of the craft, experience of the pilot, and operational goals, this reques t appears to be well suited for approval using the
current criteria outlined in Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (including new interim policies)

Sincerely, Dave W ool