February 4 , 2015

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 Reform Act and Part 11 of the Federal
Aviation Regulations

Dear Madam/ S ir,

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the “Reform Act”)
and 14 C.F.R. Part 11, Donan Solutions LLC (“ DONAN ”), an operator of the eBee Unmanned Aircraft System (“eBee”) seeks an exemption from the Federal Aviation Reg ulations (“FARs”)

listed below:

 14 C.F.R. 21

 14 C.F.R. 45.23

 14 C.F.R

. 45.29

 14 C.F.R. 61.3

 14 C.F.R. 61.113(a)&(b)

 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. 91.121

 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 and survey applications. These operations will be subject to strict operating requirements defined in

the eBee user manual ( DONAN requests the FAA treat the eBee user manual 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.

The eBee will be operated by an individual who fulfill s the following requirements:

 Has successfully passed a manufacturer’s training progr am for the eBee; DONAN requests the FAA treat the eBee training program as proprietary under 14 C.F.R. 11.35(b)and does not include thi s document in the public docket;

 Has a Private Pilot license.

1. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AIRCRAFT

The eBee is a small (37.8 inches wingspan) and ultra

- light (maximum take

- off weight of 1.7 pounds) platform made of flexible foam that performs pre

- programmed precision aerial mapping

missions thanks to the on

- board GPS and the related flight management software (eMotion) th at allows the operator to plan safely and efficiently a mission in 3D, and then monitor it in real

- time. 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 generat e maps and contour lines of the surveyed

area.

The four main characteristics of the eBee are:

a. Very light weight

The eBee is so light that the operator can launch it by hand and let it land on almost any surface without requiring a parachute or landi ng net (belly land). Its low impact energy ( 38 J in case of a controlled emergency landing ) also significantly reduces the risk of hazardous situations. Finally, the wings of the eBee are detachable and made of flexible foam with no sharp or hard edges and almost no internal strengthening structure.

b. Electric

- powered

The eBee is electric powered. A brushless engine technology makes it silent and reliable. The propeller is attached with a rubber band to the body of the plane so that it can easily flex a way 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 the onboard GPS and takes care of all the

a spects of the flight under the supervision of the operator.

d. Option for Manual control

Additionally, the eBee provides an override capability that allows the operator to take manual actions during the flight (Go to Home, Go Land, Hold and Resume the mi ssion) and also suspend automated operations and take manual control of the aircraft should it become necessary to respond to emergency circumstances, thanks to the remote controller provided with the system.

2. APPLICATIONS

The requested exemption woul d allow Donan to operate the eBee for the purposes of aerial inspections and surveying . These applications would include mining surveys and agriculture inspections

. Using the eBee offers a safety advantage when compared to inspecting these locations in p erson or using manned aircraft . Due to its small size and the fact it carries no fuel the eBee poses a very low risk of damage to persons or structures on the ground. Additionally, using the eBee offers significant time savings when compared to completin g these inspections andsurveys in person on the ground. Because the eBee is electric powered

, it creates no harmful

emissions and makes very little noise. The ability to program a specific flight pattern will allow repeatable collection of data that is otherwise difficult or impossible to gather

.

3. APPLICABLE LEGAL STANDARD UNDER SECTION 333

a. Airworthiness assessment of the eBee

DONAN notes that the airworthiness of the eBee has already been demonstrated for different projects in the United Stat es, involving state/federal agencies or universities (among others the New Mexico State University: https://newscenter.nmsu.ed u/Articles/view/10208/nmsu

- uas

- flight

test

- center

- conducts

- ebee

- airworthiness

- assessment , and the USACE New Orleans, who coordinated with the Department of Army and the FAA to obtain all authorizations required i n 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 operations)

 Germany (flight approval for VLOS operations)

 United Kingdom (flight approval for VLOS operations)

 Norway (flight approval for VLOS operations)

 Sweden (flight approval for VLOS ope rations)

 Denmark (flight approval for VLOS operations)

b. Operating requirements

Grant of the exemption to DONAN for the eBee will be subject to the following operating conditions, based on the operating conditions set forth by the Academy of Model Aeron autics (see Annex B). The main restrictions are summarized below:

 Operations to be conducted over private, controlled

- access, or public property where approved;

 Permission from the land owner/authority required before commencing any flight;

 Operations ove r congested areas shall be avoided;

 Operations must not interfere with manned aircraft operations, must yield the right of way to manned aircraft, and operators must See & Avoid other aircraft and obstacles at all

times

 Operations limited to Visual Flight Rules Meteorological Conditions (VMC) and daylight

hours

 Aircraft operations must remain within Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) and will be visually
monitored at all times;

 VLOS guaranteed with a GPS geo

- fence around operator of 0.5 miles

 Flight ceiling pre

- pr ogramed at 400 feet;

 All operations conducted within 5 miles from an airport 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 w ith required permissions and permits established byterritorial, state, county or city jurisdictions; including local law enforcement, fire, or other

appropriate governmental agencies.

 The eBee operations will be compliant with existing safety procedures i nherent to the activities of the related company.

c. Operator Requirements

The eBee operator wi ll have a Private Pilot license and will successfully have passed a

manufacturer’s training program for the eBee.

3. CONCLUSION

Donan believes that the eB ee has demonstrated its safety and reliability in its numerous uses throughout the world and thus has proven it can be safely operated in the national a ir space (NAS). Additionally, the combination of its light weight, the strict operating guidelines proposed

here in, and the required qualifications of the operator s form an equivalent or greater level of safety compared to manned aircraft performing the same missions. Donan therefore requests that

the FAA consider this as adequate justification for the grant ing of the requested exemption allowing safe commercial operations of the eBee in the NAS.

Yours sincerely,

Matthew Kenney Technical Program Manager

DONAN

2101 Production Drive
Louisville, KY 40299

800

- 482

- 5611, ext. 2029 mkenney@donan.comANNEX A: EXEMPTION REQUEST AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY

SHOWINGS UNDER APPLICABLE RULES SUBJECT TO EXEMPTION

DONAN requests an exemption from the following regulations as well as any additional regulations that may technically apply to the o peration of the eBee:

14 C.F.R. Part 21, Subpart H: Airworthiness Certificates
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, establishes the procedural requirements for the issuance of airworthiness certificates as required by 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 uti lization, it is unnecessary to go through the certificate of airworthiness process under Part 21 Subpart H in order to achieve or exceed current safety levels.

Such an exemption meets the requirements of an equivalent level of safety under Part 11 and

Se ction 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, operational capability, and proximity to airports and populated areas of the UAS involved. An analysis of these different criteria demonstrates that the eBee operated without an airworthiness certificate, 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 operations with the eBee, which demonstrates that assertion, is also being submitted to the FAA as part of this application. DONAN 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 marks; 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.

Given the size of t he eBee (wingspan of 37.8 inches), this requirement is impossible to match.

14 C.F.R. § 61.3: Requirements for certificates, ratings and authorizations
14 C.F.R. § 61.113(a) & (b); 61.133(a): Private Pilot Privileges and Limitations; Pilot in
Command; Co mmercial Pilot Privileges and Limitations

The regulation provides that no person may serve as a required pilot flight crewmember of a civil aircraft of the United States, unless that person:

(1) Has a pilot certificate or special purpose pilot authorizat ion issued under this part in that person's physical possession or readily accessible in the aircraft when exercising the privileges of that pilot certificate or authorization. However, when the aircraft is operated within a foreign country, a pilot licens e issued by that country may be used.

The regulation provides also 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 aspilot in comma nd of an aircraft in connection with any business or employment if:

(1) The flight is only incidental to that business or employment; (2) The aircraft does not carry passengers or property for compensation or hire.

Given the safety features of the eBee and the fact that the missions are pre

- programmed and

monitored in real

- time with a specific flight management software (eMotion), SenseFly proposes that operators of the eBee should not be required to hold a commercial pilot certification. Instead,

oper ators should be required to:

Have a private pilot license and have successfully passed a manufacturer’ s training program for

the eBee. The operator will either meet the flight review requirements specified in 14 CFR §

61.56 or will annually complete and log at least 4 hours of ground instruction with a certified flight instructor (CFI) covering regulations pertinent to operation of the eBee

.

14 C.F.R. § 91.7(a): Civil aircraft airworthiness

This regulation requires that no person may operate a civil ai rcraft unless it is in airworthy

condition. Should the exemption be granted allowing commercial operation of the eBee without

an airworthiness certificate, no standard will exist for airworthiness of the eBee. Given the size of the aircraft and the previo us airworthiness assessments given to the eBee, among others:

 New Mexico State University: https://newscenter.nmsu.edu/Articl es/view/10208/nmsu

uas

- flight

- test

- center

- conducts

- ebee

- airworthiness

- assessment

 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 for levee system monitoring , documentation of construction progress, and extensive oblique photography

of USACE structures & activities

An equivalent level of safety will be achieved by insuring compliance with the SenseFly manuals prior to each flight.

14 C.F.R. § 91.9: Civil a ircraft 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. DONAN assumes that the intent of this requirement is to ensure that

fli ght manual information is available to the aircrew while operating the aircraft. DONAN requests 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.

The eq uivalent 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 Instruction

The regulation provides that "No person may operate a civil aircraft that is b eing used for flight

instruction unless that aircraft has fully functioning dual controls."

Flight instruction will be ac complished through an elaborate training program, using first the simulation mode of the flight management software eMotion. The equi valent level of safetyduring the training will be achieved by the manufacturer or authorized distributor providing the

training and through the use of experienced and qualified operators familiar with the eBee.

14 CFR § 91.119: Minimum Safe Altitudes

Th e 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 aircraft will be operating at a maximum of 400 feet AGL, the eBee cannot comply with this requirement.

The equivalent level of safety will be achieved because the eBee will only fly over private property with the permission of the landowner or public property where approved . The operator will define before every flight a working area radius an d a flight area ceiling, preventing the eBee from going beyond the flight area. The landowner and the persons who may be on the ground in the flight area will be briefed of the expected route of flight and the associated risks to persons and property on t he ground. Due to the small size of the eBee and the material with which 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 ai rcraft will not be operated over congested areas nor over any open

- air assembly of persons. The aircraft will be operated at an altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.

14 C FR 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 fe et MSL to:

 The current reported altimeter setting of a station 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 appropriate available station;

 In the case of an aircraft not equipped with a radio, the elevation of the departure airport or an appropriate altimeter setting available before departure.

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 precisions. The GPS provides reliable information to correct potential barometric bia s, while rapid variations in altitude are detected through the barometer. Hence, barometric bias induced by environmental factors is rejected.

14 C.F.R. § 91.151(a): Fuel Requirements for Flight in VFR Conditions

The regulation provides that no person ma y 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.

Given the area of operation for the eBee, DONAN believes that an equivalent l evel of safety is already achieved with the specific procedure preventing the eBee to accept a take

- off order i f the battery level is below a given value. Moreover, SenseFly has integrated “low” and “critical” battery level warnings and implemented a “retu rn to Home” (and “Go Land”) actions in thesesituations.

14 C.F.R. § 91.203 (a) & (b): Carrying Civil Aircraft Certification and Registration

This regulation provides as follows:

 No person may operate a civil aircraft unless it has an appropriate and c urrent

airworthiness certificate.

 No person may operate a civil aircraft unless the airworthiness certificate required by
paragraph (a) of this section or a special flight authorization issued under §91.715 is
displayed at the cabin or cockpit entrance so that it is legible to passengers or crew.

The eBee weighs only 1.7 pounds (max take

- off weight). As such, there is no ability or place to carry certification and registration documents or to display them on the UAS. In addition, there is no pilot or passe ngers on board the aircraft.

To obtain an equivalent level of safety and meet the intent of 91.203, DONAN propose s that documents deemed appropriate for this aircraft by the FAA will be co

- located with the operator at the ground control station in the eBe e box and available for inspection upon request

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401

- 91.417)

- Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, and

Alterations

The regulation provides that the operator is primarily responsible for maintaining the aircraft in an airworthy cond ition, including compliance with Parts 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. Section 91.409(a)(2) requires an annual inspec tion for the issuance of an airworthiness certificate. Section 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 records of approval of the aircraft for return to service.

DONAN proposes that the maintenance of the eBee will be accomplished by the owner/operator according to the maintenance manual, provided by SenseFly. DONAN requests the FAA treat the

eBee maintenance manual 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 because the eBee is small in size, it is not a complex mechanical device, it will carry no external payload, and it will operate only in restricted predetermined areas. Moreover, the operator is the person most familiar with the aircraft and is best suited to maintain the aircraft in an airworthy condition and to ensure an equivalent level of safety. Finally, before ev ery flight, 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 be switched

- on and a n error message is displayed on th e main screen

of the flight management software . The operator can then refer to the maintenance manual to troubleshoot this issue. Several parts of the eBee are easily interchangeable (propellers, wings), which allows the operator to make sure the wings an d propulsion system are always airworthy

when a mission is initiated.ANNEX B: ACADEMY OF MODEL AERONAUTICS SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/105.pdf

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/540

- D.pdf

http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/560.pdf