U.S. Department of Transportation

Docket Management System 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590

Re: Exemption Request Under Section 333 of the FAA Refo rm Act and Part 11 of the Federal Aviation Regulations

Dear Madam/Sir,
Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization an d Reform Act of 2012 (the “Reform Act”) and 14 C.F.R. Part 11, Natural Resources Management , LLC(“NRM”), an operator of the eBee Unmanned Aircraft System (“eBee”) seeks an exemptio n from the Federal Av (“FARs”) listed below:

• 14 C.F.R. 21 • 14 C.F.R. 45.23 • 14 C.F.R 45.29 • 14 C.F.R. 61.133(a) • 14 C.F.R. 91.7(b) • 14 C.F.R. 91.9(b)(2) • 14 C.F.R. 91.109(a) • 14 C.F.R. 91.119 • 14 C.F.R. 91.151(a) • 14 C.F.R. 91.203(a) & (b) • 14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 - 91.417)

The requested exemption would authorize commercial operations using the eBee for mapping photogrammetric and survey applications. These operations will be s ubject to strict operating requirements defined in the eB ee user manual (NRM requests the FAA treat the eBee training program as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 11.35(b) and does not include this document in the public docket) and conditions defined by the Safety Code of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (see Annex B ), in order to ensure at least an equivalent level of safety to currently authorized operations using manned aircrafts. following requirements: Has successfully passed a m anufacturer’s training p ( NRM requests the FAA treat the eBee training progra m as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 11.35(b) and does not include this document in the public do cket August 6, 2015
U.S. Department of Transportation

Exemption Request Under Section 333 of the FAA Refo rm Act and Part 11 of the Federal Aviation Regulations

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization an d Reform Act of 2012 (the “Reform Act”) and 14 C.F.R. Part 11, Natural Resources Management , LLC(“NRM”), an operator of the eBee Unmanned Aircraft System (“eBee”) seeks an exemptio n from the Federal Av iation Regulations

91.417)

The requested exemption would authorize commercial operations using the eBee for mapping

and survey applications. These operations will be s ubject to strict operating

ee user manual (NRM requests the FAA treat the eBee training program as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 11.35(b) and does not include this document in the public docket) and conditions defined by the Safety Code of the Academy of Model Aeronautics

), in order to ensure at least an equivalent level of safety to currently authorized operations using manned aircrafts. The eBee will be operated by an individual who fulf ills the following requirements: Has successfully passed a m anufacturer’s training p rogram for NRM requests the FAA treat the eBee training progra m as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 11.35(b) and does not include this document in the public do cket ). 3793 Silica Road, Suite B Sylvania, Ohio 43560 Local 419-841-3232 Fax 419

- 882

- 8772 www.NRMmining.com

Page 1 August 6, 2015

Exemption Request Under Section 333 of the FAA Refo rm Act and Part 11 of the

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization an d Reform Act of 2012 (the “Reform Act”) and 14 C.F.R. Part 11, Natural Resources Management , LLC(“NRM”), an operator of the eBee iation Regulations

The requested exemption would authorize commercial operations using the eBee for mapping
,

and survey applications. These operations will be s ubject to strict operating

ee user manual (NRM requests the FAA treat the eBee training program as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 11.35(b) and does not include this document in the public docket) and conditions defined by the Safety Code of the Academy of Model Aeronautics

), in order to ensure at least an equivalent level of safety to currently authorized

The eBee will be operated by an individual who fulf ills the rogram for

the eBee NRM requests the FAA treat the eBee training progra m as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 11.35(b) www.NRMmining.comPage 2

1. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AIRCRAFT The eBee is a small (37.8 inches wingspan) and ultr a-light (maximum take-off weight of 1.7 pounds) platform made of flexible foam that perform s pre-programmed precision aerial mapping
missions thanks to the on-board GPS and the related flight management software (eMotion) that allows the operator to plan safely and efficiently a mission in 3D, and then monitor it in realtime. Thanks to the embedded camera, protected by a foam envelope, the eBee takes a collection of high-definition still images that are used later to generate maps and contour lines of the surveyed area. The four main characteristics of th e eBee are:
A. Light weight The eBee is so light that the operator can launch i t by hand and let it land on almost any surface without requiring a parachute or landing net (belly land). Its low impact energy (38 J in case of a controlled emergency landing) also significantly re duces the risk of hazardous situations. Finally, the wings of the eBee are detachable and made of fl exible foam with no sharp or hard edges and almost no internal strengthening structure.
B. Electric-powered The eBee is electric powered. A brushless engine te chnology makes it silent and reliable. The propeller is attached with a rubber band to the bod y of the plane so that it can easily flex away in case of contact with any object.
C. Semi-automatic flight The artificial intelligence incorporated within the eBee autopilot system continuously analyzes
data from the Inertial Measurement Unit and from th e onboard GPS and takes care of all the aspects of the flight under the supervision of the operator. D. Option for Manual control Additionally, the eBee provides an override capabil ity that allows the operator to take manual actions during the flight (Go to Home, Go Land, Hol d and Resume the mission) and also suspend automated operations and take manual control of the aircraft should it become necessary to respond emergent circumstances, thanks to the remot e controller provided with the system.Page 3

2. APPLICATIONS The eBee will be used to map natural resources and industrial landfill sites in non-congested areas (pre-planning and as-built completion) includ ing open pit quarries, forests, landfill operations, agriculture, topography, as-built const ruction conditions and progress, quarry and mining operations (non-congested areas), and for em ployee and educational training.

3. APPLICABLE LEGAL STANDARD UNDER SECTION 333 A. Airworthiness assessment of the eBee
NRM notes that the airworthiness of the eBee has al ready been demonstrated for different projects in the United States, involving state/fede ral agencies or universities (among others the New Mexico State University: https://newscenter.nms u.edu/Articles/view/10208/nmsu-uasflight-test-center-conducts-ebee-airworthiness-asse ssment, and the USACE New Orleans, who coordinated with the Department of Army and the FAA to obtain all authorizations required in order to operate the eBee UAS). Moreover, SenseFly obtained flight approvals for the eBee (delivered by national civil aviation authorities) in many countries, among others:
• Switzerland (flight approval for VLOS operations) • Canada (flight approval for VLOS operations) • Australia (flight approval for VLOS operations) • France (flight approval for Extended-VLOS operati ons) • Germany (flight approval for VLOS operations) • United Kingdom (flight approval for VLOS operatio ns) • Norway (flight approval for VLOS operations) • Sweden (flight approval for VLOS operations) • Denmark (flight approval for VLOS operations)

B. Operating requirements Grant of the exemption to NRM for the eBee will be subject to the following operating conditions, based on the operating conditions set f orth by the Academy of Model Aeronautics (see Annex B). The main restrictions are summarized below: • Operations are to be conducted over private, cont rolled-access, or public property where approved;Page 4

• Permission from the land owner/authority will be required before commencing any flight; • Operations over congested areas shall be avoided; • Operations must not interfere with manned aircraf t operations, must yield the right of way to manned aircraft, and operators must See & Av oid other aircraft and obstacles at all times • Operations will be limited to Visual Flight Rules Meteorological Conditions (VMC) and daylight hours • Aircraft operations will remain within Visual Lin e of Sight (VLOS) and will be visually monitored at all times; • VLOS will be guaranteed with a GPS geo-fence arou nd operator of 0.5 miles • Flight ceiling will be pre-programmed at 400 feet or less above the ground surface; • All operations conducted within 5 miles from an a irport shall only be initiated after verbal coordination with the airport authority, or air traffic control when a control tower is present at the airport; • All operations shall comply with required permiss ions and permits established by territorial, state, county or city jurisdictions; i ncluding local law enforcement, fire, or other appropriate governmental agencies. • The eBee operations will be compliant with existi ng safety procedures inherent to the activities of the related company.

3. CONCLUSION Natural Resources Management, LLC (NRM) is a geolog ical, environmental and natural resources firm in its ninth year of business. The u se of the eBee and its technology will make our work more profitable and efficient and will enable us to deliver accurate results in near real time to our clients. This accuracy and time saving abili ty will allow our clients to make on-time decisions. Obtaining mapping information with the e Bee will be tremendously safer than having NRM employees deployed in the field performing simi lar functions for projects (i.e. climbing large stockpiles of materials). NRM work site setti ngs often pose threats to employee safety in the mining, quarry, and construction environments t hat we service. The use of the eBee will be safe for other aircraft with the implementation of mission specifications (below 400 feet above ground surface) and eBee integrated safety features including return to home on low power or high winds. We are prepared to modify or amend any part of this request to satisfy the need for an equivalent level of safety. We look forward to w orking with your office regarding this matter.Page 5

Please contact us at any time if you require additi onal information or clarification. We can be reached by email at ctokar@NRMmining.com.

Sincerely,

Frank “Chip” Tokar Jr., CPG Partner, Natural Resources Management, LLC Phone: 1-419-841-3232 Cell: 1-419-466-9648Page 6

ANNEX A: EXEMPTION REQUEST AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY
SHOWINGS UNDER APPLICABLE RULES SUBJECT TO EXEMPTIO N

Natural Resources Management, LLC(“NRM”) requests a n exemption from the following regulations as well as any additional regulations t hat may technically apply to the operation of the eBee Unmanned Aircraft System (“eBee”):

14 C.F.R. Part 21, Subpart H: Airworthiness Certifi cates 14 CFR § 91.203(a)(1) Section 91.203 requires all civil aircraft to have a certificate of airworthiness. Part 21, Subpart H, entitled Airworthiness Certificates, FAR § 91.203(a ). Given the size of the eBee, its very light weight (the maximum take-off weight is 1.7 pounds) and the limited operating area associated with its utilization, it is unnecessary to go throu gh the certificate of airworthiness process under Part 21 Subpart H in order to achieve or exceed cur rent safety levels.
Such an exemption meets the requirements of an equi valent level of safety under Part 11 and
Section 333 of the Reform Act. The Federal Aviation Act and Section 333 of the Reform Act both authorize the FAA to exempt aircraft from the requirement for an airworthiness certificate, upon consideration of the size, weight, speed, oper ational capability, and proximity to airports and populated areas of the UAS involved. An analysi s of these different criteria demonstrates that the eBee operated without an airworthiness cer tificate, under the conditions proposed in that exemption, will be at least as safe, or safer, than a conventional aircraft with an airworthiness certificate. A proprietary risk assessment for oper ations with the eBee, which demonstrates that assertion, is also being submitted to the FAA as pa rt of this application. NRM requests the FAA treat the eBee risk assessment as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 11.35(b) and not include this document in the public docket.

14 C.F.R. § 45.23 & 14 C.F.R. § 45.29: Display of m arks; size of marks These regulations provide that each aircraft must d isplay "N" and the aircraft's registration number in letters at least 3 inches high. Additiona lly, the aircraft must display the wordPage 7

"EXPERIMENTAL" in letters at least 2 inches high ne ar the entrance to the cabin, cockpit, or pilot station. Given the size of the eBee (wingspan of 37.8 inches ), this requirement is impossible to match.

14 C.F.R. § 91.7(a): Civil aircraft airworthiness This regulation requires that no person may operate a civil aircraft unless it is in airworthy condition. Should the exemption be granted allowing commercial operation of the eBee without an airworthiness certificate, no standard will exis t for airworthiness of the eBee. Given the size of the aircraft and the previous airworthiness asse ssments given to the eBee, among others:
• New Mexico State University: https://newscenter.nmsu.edu/Articles/view/10208/nms u-uasflight-test-center-conducts-ebee-airworthiness-asse ssment. • USACE New Orleans, who coordinated with the Depar tment of Army and the FAA to obtain all authorizations required in order to operate the eBee UAS for levee system monitoring, documentation of construction progress, and extensi ve oblique photography of USACE
structures & activities.
An equivalent level of safety will be achieved by i nsuring compliance with the SenseFly manuals prior to each flight.

14 C.F.R. § 91.9: Civil aircraft flight manual, mar king, and placard requirements. This regulation provides that no person may operate an aircraft unless a current, approved flight
manual is in the aircraft. NRM assumes that the in tent of this requirement is to ensure that flight
manual information is available to the aircrew whil e operating the aircraft. NRM requests an exemption to this requirement since the aircraft is too small to carry the documentation nor
would it be available to the crew.
The equivalent level of safety will be achieved by keeping a hard copy of the flight manual in the eBee transportation box.

14 C.F.R. § 91.109(a) & 91.319(a)(1): Flight Instru ction The regulation provides that "No person may operate a civil aircraft that is being used for flight instruction unless that aircraft has fully function ing dual controls." Flight instruction will bePage 8

accomplished through an elaborated training program , using first the simulation mode of the flight management software eMotion.
The equivalent level of safety during the training will be achieved by the manufacturer or authorized distributor providing the training and t hrough the use of experienced and qualified operators familiar with the eBee.

14 CFR § 91.119: Minimum Safe Altitudes The regulation provides that over sparsely populate d areas the aircraft cannot be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or st ructure. Since the aircraft will be operating at a maximum of 400 feet AGL, the eBee cannot comply wit h this requirement.
The equivalent level of safety will be achieved bec ause the eBee will only fly over private property with the permission of the landowner. The operator will define before every flight a working area radius and a flight area ceiling, prev enting the eBee to go beyond the flight area. The landowner and the persons who may be on the gro und in the flight area will be briefed of the expected route of flight and the associated risks t o persons and property on the ground. Due to
the small size of the eBee and the material with wh ich the eBee is built, the hazard to persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures is not comparable to manned aircraft and should be considered in granting the exemption.
Moreover, the aircraft will not be operated over co ngested areas or over any open-air assembly of persons. The aircraft will be operated at an alt itude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons o r property on the surface.

14 CFR 91.121 – Altimeter settings This section requires that each person operating an aircraft shall maintain the cruising altitude or flight level of that aircraft, as the case may be, by reference to an altimeter that is set, when operating below 18,000 feet MSL to:
• The current reported altimeter setting of a stati on along the route and within 100 nautical miles of the aircraft; • If there is no station within the area prescribed in paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section, the current reported altimeter setting of an appropriat e available station; • In the case of an aircraft not equipped with a ra dio, the elevation of the departure airport or an appropriate altimeter setting available befor e departure.Page 9

To provide an equivalent level of safety, the eBee autopilot calculates the reference altitude (ground level) with the on-board GPS during the pre -flight tests. The GPS and barometer data are merged with respect to their respective precisi ons. The GPS provides reliable information to correct potential barometric bias, while rapid vari ations in altitude are detected through the barometer. Hence, barometric bias induced by enviro nmental factors is rejected.

14 C.F.R. § 91.151(a): 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 th e first point of intended landing and to fly after
that for at least 30 minutes.
Given the area of operation for the eBee, NRM belie ves that an equivalent level of safety is already achieved with the specific procedure preven ting the eBee to accept a take-off order is the battery level is below a given value. Moreover, Sen seFly has integrated “low” and “critical” battery level warnings and implemented a “return to Home” (and “Go Land”) action in these
situations.

14 C.F.R. § 91.203 (a) & (b): Carrying Civil Aircra ft Certification and Registration This regulation provides as follows: • No person may operate a civil aircraft unless it has an appropriate and current airworthiness
certificate. • No person may operate a civil aircraft unless the airworthiness certificate required by paragraph (a) of this section or a special flight authorizati on issued under §91.715 is displayed at the cabin or cockpit entrance so that it is legible to passen gers or crew. The eBee weighs only 1.7 pounds (max take-off weigh t). As such, there is no ability or place to carry certification and registration documents or t o display them on the UAS. In addition, there is no pilot or passengers on board the aircraft.
To obtain an equivalent level of safety and meet th e intent of 91.203, NRM proposes that documents deemed appropriate for this aircraft by t he FAA will be co-located with the operator at the ground control station in the eBee box and a vailable for inspection upon request.Page 10

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 - 91.417) - Maintenance, P reventive Maintenance, and
Alterations The regulation provides that the operator is primar ily responsible for maintaining the aircraft in an airworthy condition, including compliance with P arts 39 and 43. Paragraphs 91.407 and 91.409 require that the aircraft be "approved for r eturn to service by a person authorized under 43.7" after maintenance and inspection. Section 91. 409(a)(2) requires an annual inspection for
the issuance of an airworthiness certificate. Secti on 91.417(a) requires the owner or operator to keep records showing certain maintenance work that has been accomplished by certificated mechanics, under Part 43, or licensed pilots and re cords of approval of the aircraft for return to
service.

NRM proposes that the maintenance of the eBee will be accomplished by the owner/operator according to the maintenance manual, provided by Se nseFly. NRM requests that the FAA treat the eBee training program as proprietary under 14 C .F.R. 11.35(b) and not include this document in the public docket.
An equivalent level of safety will be achieved beca use the eBee is small in size, it is not a complex mechanical device, it will carry no externa l payload, and it will operate only in restricted predetermined areas. Moreover, the opera tor is the person most familiar with the
aircraft and is best suited to maintain the aircraf t in an airworthy condition and to ensure an equivalent level of safety. Finally, before every f light, the eBee runs automatically a sequence of pre-flight tests to make sure that every sensor and every critical part is running properly. If a problem is detected, the eBee will not be able to b e switched-on and a message error is displayed on the main screen of the flight management softwar e. The operator can then refer to the
maintenance manual to troubleshoot this issue. Seve ral parts of the eBee are easily interchangeable (propellers, wings), which allows t he operator to make sure the wings and propulsion system are always airworthy when a missi on is initiated.

ANNEX B: ACADEMY OF MODEL AERONAUTICS SAFETY REQUIR EMENTS http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/105.pdf http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/540-D.pdf http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/560.pdf