07-27-2015

U.S. Department of Transportation

Docket Management System

1200New Jersey Ave. SE

Washington, DC 20590

Exemption Request Section 333 of the FAA Reform Act

To Whom It May Concern,

In accordance with Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and 14 C.F.R. Part

11, LBT Residential Design, hereby applies for exemptions from the following Federal Aviation

Regulations (FARs) in order to operate a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) for commercial

applications in airspace that is governed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). All flight

operations will be conducted under the conditions and boundaries outlined herein or as established by the

FAA in accordance with Section 333.

The exemptions, as requested by LBT Residential Design, would permit the provision of commercial

services to customers that are in need of aerial data capture from a sUAS. LBT Residential Design 

requests these exemptions in order to perform commercial flights in the following areas:

 Surveying

 Agriculture

 Aerial Inspection

 Real Estate Photography

 General Photography

 Special Events

All flights will be conducted over private or controlled access property with the consent and knowledge of

the property owner or controlling party. All flight operations will maintain a 500 foot buffer from all

nonparticipating persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures unless sufficient barriers are in place to protect

nonparticipating persons from undue harm. Flight operations will also only be operated near vessels,

vehicles, and structures where the property owner/controller has granted permission and a safety

assessment has been made.

All of LBT Residential Designs’ flight operations will be conducted by pilots that are holding current

FAA Private or Commercial Licenses with appropriate medical certificates. All visual observers (VO)

will be trained to perform their required duties before flight operations begin.

Regulations from which an exemption is requested:

14 CFR 61.113(a)

14 CFR 91.7(a)

14 CFR 91.119(c)

14 CFR 91.121

14 CFR 91.151(a)

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 – 91.417)
THE UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM

LBT Residential Design is seeking this exemption in order to operate a DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus 

quadcopter equipped with an integrated three axis gyro stabilized camera. The DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus 

weighs 2.8 pounds and has a maximum payload of 2.9 pounds. Controller operating frequency is 5.728 

GHz-5.85 GHz. “DJI Vision App” software will be the ground station operating system. Safety failsafe

features ensuring safe operations include:

 Geo-fence capability that will limit the height and horizontal distance that the DJI Phantom 2 

Vision Plus can fly from the operator.

 RTL mode- In the case of low battery or lost communication between the DJI Phantom 2 Vision 

Plus and the operator, the DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus will return to the point of takeoff and

land itself. This mode can be manually turned on by the operator at any point in the flight.

 Telemetry radio communication via “DJI Vision App” software provides real time feedback

of flight data, including current altitude, attitude, GPS coordinates, and real time video.

Aforementioned safety features have undergone rigorous testing procedures by DJI Innovations as well as

LBT Residential Design. These safety features combined with the PIC’s knowledge obtained during

flight training will successfully mitigate operation safety risks.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS

The operator and PIC will guarantee that operations adhere to strict standards as set below:

 Prior to their first operation, all PICs employed by LBT Residential Design will complete a

sUAS education and training program that highlights critical areas including applicable

regulations and documents, charts, NOTAMS and Advisory Circulars, Radio Communications

Procedures, Human Factors and Crew Resource Management, Basic Small UAS Aerodynamics,

Weather Factors, Airmanship and Decision-making, and Safe Operating Procedures.

 The PIC must show that they are able to operate the UAS in a safe manner before

proceeding with operations.

 The UAS will be operated at airspeeds below 29 knots.

 The UAS will be operated below 400 feet above ground level (AGL) at all times.

 The UAS will be operated within visual line of sight (VLOS) at all times.

 All operations will utilize a visual observer (VO). The UAS will be operated within the visual

line of sight (VLOS) of the PIC and VO at all times.

 The VO will not perform any other duties beyond assisting the PIC with seeing and avoiding

traffic and other ground based obstacles.

 Proper preflight inspections will take place before each flight.
 The UAS may not operate within 5 nautical miles of an airport reference point unless a letter of 

agreement with that airport’s management is obtained.

 Operations will be conducted in accordance with a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM).

 The UAS 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.

 The PIC must maintain a battery reserve that allows the UAS to return to point of landing

at normal cruise speed and land with 25% battery power.

 The UAS must remain clear of and yield to all other air traffic

 Flight operations will remain 500 feet from all nonparticipating persons, vehicles, and structures

unless:

a. Barriers or structures are present that sufficiently protect nonparticipating persons

from debris in the event of an accident.

b. All participating persons will be made aware of the dangers of flying a UAS and 

the safety precautions and features that are in place.

c. The aircraft is operated near vessels, vehicles, or structures where the property

owner/controller has granted permission and the PIC has made a safety assessment in

regard to the close operation to these objects.

d. Operations near the PIC or VO do not present an undue hazard to the PIC or VO per

91.119(a).

 All operations will be conducted over private or controlled-access property with prior permission

from the property owner/controller or authorized representative.

LBT Residential Design is confident that the knowledge of the PIC, along with the strict safety standards

set by LBT Residential Design, the FAA, and the safety properties of the DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus, will

allow safe and efficient operations.

LBT Residential Design hereby requests exemption under Section 333 in order to pursue commercial

sUAV applications with the intent to provide customers with the safest, highest quality UAS data 

collection, photography and video available.

Sincerely,

Jason Thomas

LBT Residential Design

3596 Maple Ave.

Suite C

Zanesville, OH 43701
EXEMPTION REQUESTS AND EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF SAFETY

LBT Residential Design requests an exemption from the following regulations as well as any additional

regulations found by the FAA to be necessary for safe and efficient UAS flight operations.

14 CFR 61.113(a), Private pilot privileges and limitations: Pilot in command

This regulation states that no person holding a private pilot certificate may act as pilot in command of an

aircraft that is carrying passengers or property for compensation or hire; nor may that person, for

compensation or hire, act as pilot in command of an aircraft.

We believe that a PIC with a private pilot license has sufficient skill and knowledge to complete

operations. We do not think that a commercial pilot license will significantly improve a PIC’s

performance while operating a UAV. Therefore, we ask for an exemption from 14 CFR 61.113(a) in

order to operate commercially with the minimum of a private pilot license.

14 CFR 91.7(a) Civil aircraft airworthiness

As a UAS will not require an airworthiness certificate, we believe that this regulation is not applicable.

Therefore, we request exemption from this regulation.

14 CFR 91.119(c) Minimum safe altitudes

This regulation states that no person may operate an aircraft below 500 feet above the surface as well as

within 500 feet of any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

We believe that, because of the nature of most UAS operations, an exemption is required in order to allow

operation closer than 500 feet to the surface, vessels, vehicles, or structures as long as permission is 

granted from the owning/controlling parties and an assessment is made to assure that people and property

are safe from undue harm. We also request that operations be allowed over congested areas as long as 

the operations stay within the following standards:

 Flight operations will remain 500 feet from all nonparticipating persons, vessels, vehicles, and

structures unless:

a. Barriers or structures are present that sufficiently protect nonparticipating persons from

debris in the event of an accident.

b. Participating persons are made aware of the dangers of the UAS operation and the

safety precautions that have been put into place.

c. The aircraft is operated near vessels, vehicles, or structures only where the property

owner/controller has granted permission and the PIC has made a safety assessment in

regard to the close operation to these objects.

d. Operations near the PIC or VO do not present an undue hazard to the PIC or VO per

91.119(a).

e. All operations will be conducted over private or controlled-access property with

prior permission from the property owner/controller or authorized representative.

14 CFR 91.121 Altimeter settings

As our UAS does not utilize a standard barometric altimeter, we request exemption from 91.121 to the

extent necessary to comply with applicable conditions and limitations. The altimeter reading for our UAS

is calculated by GPS. The accurate and continuous readings that we receive from this GPS system allow

us to operate our UAS below set minimums at all times.
14 CFR 91.151(a) Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions

This regulation states 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, after that, fly for an additional 30

minutes. This regulation is intended to create a safe flying environment by creating sufficient fuel

reserves. Therefore, we do not request an exemption from this regulation but, instead, request that the

term “fuel” be changed to “battery power.” We also request that our battery power reserve for our UAS

operations be 25%.

Our UAS has capabilities that allow the PIC to monitor battery power levels as well as a return to land

feature that will engage when battery levels reach a critical level, therefore returning the UAS

automatically to the point of takeoff.

14 CFR Subpart E (91.401 – 91.417)

LBT Residential Design is requesting exemption from these regulations because we believe that, due to the

simplicity and the ease of repair, general and preventive maintenance can be performed by the PIC. The

PIC is required to make a thorough preflight inspection before each operation. In the case of a discovery

of faulty equipment, most replacement and repair can simply be done on site as long as repairs are of an

airworthy manner.

We believe that our comprehensive preflight inspection, the simplicity of the UAS itself, the nature of the

UAS’s operations, and the fact that no passengers are on board the aircraft make our operations eligible

for exemption from CFR Subpart E (91.401 – 91.417).