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15 J une 2015

U.S. Department of Transportation Docket Manag ement Sy stem, M-30 Room W 12-140, W est B uilding Ground F loor 1200 New J ersey

Ave., SE W a shing ton, DC 20590-0001

Re: Ex emption R equest under Section 3 33 of the F AA Reform Act and Part 11 of the F ederal Aviation Reg ulations

Dear Sir or Madam;

Pursuant to Section 333 o f the F AA Moderniz ation and Reform Act o f 2 0 1 2 (the “ Reform Act”) and 1 4 C.F .R. Part 11, Dig ital Mapping and Graphics ( DMG) seeks an ex emption from the F ederal Aviation Reg ulations (“F ARs”) listed below in Table 1. 14 CF R Regu l ations f rom
w hich Exem ption is Being Sought.

The r e q u ested e x emption would authoriz e DMG to undertake unmanned aircraft operations desig ned to g ather a e rial data for the purpose o f developing increasing ly accurate and precise spatial imag e s to assist in the more efficient and c omprehensive manag ement of a div e r s e s e t of landscapes including

natural areas, parks, and ag ricultural fields.

The point of contact for this ex emption request is

Mr. W illiam H. I senberg er, CEO Dig ital Mapping and Graphics 6346 N. Shade Tree L

N Spring field MO 65803

email: billisenberg e r @y ahoo.com phone: (417) 350-4037 (cell)

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2

BACK G ROUND

DMG is a sole proprietorship, owned, and operated by W illiam H. I senber g er e s t a blished in the State of Missouri in 1991 to p rovide compr e h e n s i v e a nd hig hly accurate imag es, maps, and models of d iverse landscapes within various Geog raphic I nformation Sy stem (GI S) environments. These im age s and models, c reated using an ever more sophisticated array o f technolog ical
resources, have been used by a wide variety of r es e a r chers including g eolog ists, plant ecolog ist, wildlife biolog ists, and archeolog ists as well as natural resource manag ers from numerous private and public ag encies.

I n anticipation of the incorporation of UAS into DMG’s technolog ical reso u r c e s , I s enberg er became involved in the operation of UAS as an av o c a t i o n a l practice in e arly 2013 and beg an the desig n and development of U AS sy stems/crafts shortly thereafter. Since that time he has log g ed several hundred avocational hours of UAS flig ht time over a wide variety of landscapes.

DESCRIP TION OF CRAF T

The craft to be used in DMG operations is the DMG 560, serial number DMG 2015201. I t was desig ned and built by its owner, W illiam H. I senberg er, and w as r eg ister e d w i t h the F ederal Aeronautics Administration (F A A) as N 541 HW o n 18 March 2015. The craft ’s d e s i gn a t ed number, N 541 HW , will be display ed as prominently as possible on the DMG 560.

The DMG 560 is a q

uad-copt e r c o n s t ructed with carbon fiber, aluminum, and plastic materials. The weig h t of the craft is 1 .3 kg and it has a heig ht (with antenna) of 160mm. The DMG 560 has

a d iameter of 560m m w h e n u s ing aluminum arms, 6 00mm when using standard leng th carbon fiber arms, and 660mm when using ex tended carbon fiber arms.

I t is powered by four (4) electric brush-less motors using 3 cell (11.1V) or 4 cell (14.8V) L ithium Poly mer (L iPo) batteries.

Dig ital imag es are captured from the DMG 5 60 by a Canon PowerShot S110 camera

. The

max imum weig ht of the craft with camera and batteries is less than 2.5 kg

.
The DMG 560 ty

pically operates at a speed of less than 20 mph. I ndividual fig hts seldom ex ceed a total of 15 minutes.

Surface to air c o mmunication with the DMG 560 is maintained with a Spectrum DX7s 2 .4GHz 7- Channel DSMX radio transmi t t er and an AR8000 8-channel receiver. T h e flig h t controller is a 3D Robotics APM 2.6 with GPS and compass.

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The DMG 560 is equipped wit h f a i l s a fe devices that will either land the craft immediately or return it to its home position in the event of either b a t t e r y or radio failure. T h e D MG 560 also operates within a GeoF ence environment established for each mission that prohibit it from leaving the spatial limits established for its mission.

The airworthiness of the DMG 560 is evidenced by its over 150 hours of flig ht time.

AP P LICATIONS

The DMG 560 will be used to capture data suitable for the construction of ex tremely accurate and precise imag es of specific natural and ag r icultural landscapes as well as detailed imag es of archeolog ical properties and ex cavations.

AREAS OF OP ERATIONS

The DMG 560 will b e o p e r at e d entirely over natural and ag ricultural landscapes populated solely by project participants.

OP ERATIONAL P ROCEDURES

All DMG missions will be planned and c arried out usin g t h e s a fe t y standards proposed by the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) National Model Airc r a f t Safety Code (1 J anuary 2014). I senberg er became a member of the AMA in the late-1990s.

Mission P lanning

. The initial steps in DMG mission planning is the co-ordination with mission sponsors and property owners a nd/or manag ers. Such co-ordination is desig ned to identify the

e x a ct spatial aspects of the mission, collect contact information for other potentially interested parties, and identify

areas of potential operational concern.

Once the desired spatial parameters of the mission are det e r m i n e d m e m bers of the mission team will contact other potentially interested parties so that both the spatial and temporal aspects of the mission will be satisfactorily c o-ordinated to insure that the targ et are a ( s ) w i ll include only mission personnel during the period of operation.

The ag reed upon spati al c o m ponents of the mission will be established using a rang e of Geog raphic I nformation Sy stem (GI S) technolog ies a nd provided to i nterested parties f or comment and, if necessary , revised before being finaliz e d.

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The spatial aspects of the mission will then be u sed to establish the fli g h t p l a n and will be loaded into the flig ht controller along with the GeoF enc e e s t ablished for the mission and the g round p o s itions of all Visual Observers (VOs) will be selected. O nce this is complete a check will b e done to insure that all craft and operating certificates, maintenance records, a nd operating manuals are org aniz ed and prepared for transport with the DMG 560.

P re-f light P rotocols. T h e following protocols are mandatory for all DMG missions.

1) Mission personnel will conduct checks of the project area to determine that n o u n authoriz ed persons are present and secure the on-g round positions for all VOs.

2) O nce on-site, the operator will inspect the UAS to determined that all e lectrical a nd mechanical connections are securely

in place.

3) The operator w ill connect the flig h t controller to a c omputer to insure that all on-board instrumentation is working properly

. 4) The operator w ill visually inspect the radio tr a n s m i t t e r t o verify that all tog g les, trims, levers, and dials are in the startup positions.

5) The operator will inspect the phy sical condition and voltag e of all batteries.

6) W hen the above inspections have been satisfactorily completed the UAS will b e initializ ed and prepared for f

l i gh t

. T h ese activities will include turning on the transmitter and double checking tog g les, levers, dials, trims, an d voltag e and then the connection of the battery to the UAS.

7) Upon c ompletio n o f S t e p 6 the operator will allow approx imately f ive (5) minutes f

or instruments (altimeter and GPS) to initializ e.
8) W hile Step 7 is in prog ress all mission p ersonnel will verify that the i r c o m m u n i cation devices are functioning

properly

. 9) After initializ ation is completed the operator will Arm (enable) the flig ht controller for flight.

10) Once the UAS is successfully Armed the operator will slowly increase the throttle and inspect the UAS response and motor sy n c. Assuming n o unusual behavior of th e UAS the mission will be initiated.

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5

The DMG 560 P ilot in Com m and (P IC)

. T h e mission PI C will p o ssess a commercial pilot’s license and a driver’s license valid within the U n i t e d States. I n addition, the PI C will have completed a minimum of 10 ten hours of flig ht instruction with the DMG 560.

In-f light P rotocols. The UAS will b e k e p t w i t h in V isual L ine-of-Sig ht (VL O S) of the PI C during the mission.

The PI C and VOs will b e in constant and simultaneous voice contact via cell phones or hand-held radios throug hout the mission.

I n the event of a radio malfunction or battery failure a fail-safe prog rammed into the flig ht controller will be trig g ered and the DMG 560 will ex ecute a Return to L aunch.

The DMG 560 will be prevented from leaving the established project area by usi n g a predefined GeoF ence prog

rammed into the flig h t controller.

I f the PI C sees something w r o n g o r unusual he w ill immediately land the craft in the c losest safe

area or ex ecute a Return to L aunch depending on the nature of the problem.

I f the VO sees something wrong or unus u al the VO w ill immediately notify the PI C who will immediately land the craft in the closest safe area or ex ecute a Return to L aunch depending on the nature of the problem.

BENEF IT TO P UBLIC

DMG’s use of UAS t e c h n o l o gy will g reatly increase the accuracy and precision of g athering aerial data from both ag ricultural and natural landscapes as well as from a r c heolog ical

ex c avations. B ecause of its ease of application and low cost it will be p o s s i b l e t o u s e UAS technolog y to capture data across landscapes at var i o us times d uring the y e ar so that owners and manag ers can track chang es in such variables as veg etation a n d drainag e within a landscape throug hout a y early cy c le or to track the nature a nd ex tent of natural catastrophes such as violent storms or severe droug hts. This will e nable manag ers to identify a reas a n d a s p e c t s of resource
concern as they are developing o r , i n t h e case of storm damag e , immediately a fter they occur. T h i s t e ch n o log y will a lso allow manag ers to a ssess the effects o f manag ement practices in a tim e l y and efficient manner. These advantag es will result in the development of much more timely a nd efficient manag ement p r actices resulting in sign i f i c a n t c ost saving s to both private firms and public ag encies.

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SAF ETY

B e cause of the siz e of the DMG 560, the fact that it c arries no pe r s o nnel or carg o, and the flig ht p rotocols described above, the e mploy ment of this UAS technolog y will sig nificantly lesse n t h e safety concerns associated with manned aerial data acquisition.

SP ECIF IC ITEMS F OR WHICH RELIEF IS REQUESTED

Table 1 is a listing of the CF R’s from which DMG is seeking a n e x e m p t i o n i n o rder to use UAS as part of its technical services.

Table 1. 14 CF R Regulations f rom w hich Exem ption is Being Sought

Re gul at i on De s c r i pt i on Com m e nt
14 CFR 61.3 Re qui r e m e nt f o r Pi l o t

c e r t i f i c a t e DMG pr o po s e d t o us e a PI C ho l di ng a

Co m m e r c i a l Pi l o t ’ s l i c e ns e and av a l i d US dr i v e r ’ s l i c e ns e 14 CFR 91.9( b) Re qui r e m e nt f o r m anua l t o be a v a i l a bl e i n t he c o c k

pi t The r e i s no s pa c e a v a i l a bl e f o r s t o r a g e o f

s uc h i t e m s
o nbo ar d t he DMG 500 a nd no pe r s o ns o n bo ar d t o

v i e w s uc h i t e m s

.
Al l f l i g ht m a nua l s , r e g i s tr a t i o n, a nd t e c hni c a l pa pe r s

w i l l be o n- s i t e i n t he po s s e s s i o n o f t he PI C. 14 CFR 91.103( b) Re qui r e m e nt f o r c r e w
m e m be r s t o be o nbo ar d The r e i s no s pa c e a v a i l a bl e o nbo ar d t he DMG 560 f o r a ny c r e w m e m be r

. 14 CFR 91.109 Re qui r e m e nt f o r dua l

c o ntr o l s dur i ng f

l i g ht i ns tr uc t i o n The r e i s no s pa c e a v a i l a bl e o nbo ar d t he DMG 560 f o r a ny c r e w m e m be r

.

14 CFR 91.119 Mi ni m um a l t i t ude s f o r s a f e f l i g ht Sa f e ty c o nc e r ns m a nda t e tha t the DMG be o pe r a t e d

a t l e s s tha n 500 f

t

. 14 CFR 91.121 Al t i m e t e r s e t t i ng s The r e i s no s pa c e a v a i l a bl e o nbo ar d t he DMG 560 f o r a ny c r e w m e m be r t o r e a d t he a l t i m e t e r

. 14 CFR 151( a ) ( 1) Fue l r e qui r e m e nt s The DMG 500 i s e nt i r e l y ba t t e r y po w e r e d a nd w i l l

c ar r y no f ue l o n bo ar d.

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7 T abl e 1. 14 CFR Re gul at i ons f r om w hi c h Ex e m pt i on i s Be i ng Sought ( c ont i nue d)

Re gul at i on D e s c r i pt i on Com m e nt 14 CFR 91.203( a ) & ( b) Re qui r e m e nt f o r r e g i s tr a t i o n a nd

a i r w o r thi ne s s c e r

t i f i c a t e s t o be

o nbo ar d The r e i s no s pa c e a v a i l a bl e f o r s t o r a g e o f

s uc h i t e m s o nbo ar d t he DMG 500 a nd no pe r s o ns o n bo a r d t o v i e w s uc h i t e m s

.
Al l r e g i s tr a t i o ns , c e r

t i f i c a t i o ns , a nd m a i nt e na

nc e

r e c o r ds w i l l be o ns i t e i n t he po s s e s s i o n o f the PI C. 14 CFR 91.205( b) Co c k pi t i ns tr um e nt s The r e i s no s pa c e a v a i l a bl e o n bo ar d t he DMG f o r pe r s o nne l t o r e a d s uc h i ns tr um e nt s

. 14 CFT 91.405( a ) I ns pe c t i o n r e qui r e m e nt s As w r i t t e n, t he i ns pe c t i o ns no t e d i n t hi s

r e g ul a t i o n a r e no t

pe r t i ne nt t o the o pe r a t i o n o f the DMG 560. Al l i ns pe c t i o ns o f the DMG by i t s de s i g ne r

a nd bui l de r

w i l l be da t e d a nd no t e d i n t he o pe r a t i o ns l o g f

o r the DMG 560 and be

av a i l a bl e o ns i t e i n t he po s s e s s i o n o f t he PI C. 14 CFR 91.407( a ) ( 1) I ns pe c t i o n a ppr o v a l r e qui r e m e nt s The r e i s no s pa c e a v a i l a bl e o nbo ar d t he DMG 560 f o r s uc h r e c o r ds . Al l r e g i s tr a t i o ns , c e r t i f i c a t i o ns , a nd f

l i g ht l o g s w i l l be o ns i t e i n the po s s e s s i o n o f

the PI C. 14 CFR 91.409( a ) ( 1) & ( 2) Ai r w o r thi ne s s i ns pe c t i o n Thi s r e g ul a t i o n w a s de s i g ne d f o r m anne d

a i r c r a f t and i s no t

s ui t a bl e f o r the DMG 560.

As t he DMG 560 w a s de s i g ne d a nd bui l t by I s e nbe r g e r

o f DMG, he i s t

he be s t pe r s o n t o
c o nduc t a l l i ns pe c t i o ns o f

t hi s c r a f t and, i n
a ddi t i o n t o t

he r o ut i ne po s t

- f

l i g ht i ns pe c t i o n f o l l o w i ng e a c h m i s s i o n, I s e nbe r g e r w i l l c o nduc t

a c o m pl e t e and t ho r o ug h i ns pe c t i o n o f the c r a f t

a f t e r e v e r y 100 ho ur s o f

s e r v i c e

. 14 CFR 91.417 ( a ) & ( b) Ma i nt e na nc e r e c o r ds r e qui r e m e nt s The r e i s no s pa c e a v a i l a bl e o nbo ar d t he DMG 560 f o r s uc h r e c o r ds . Al l r e g i s tr a t i o ns , c e r t i f i c a t i o ns , a nd f

l i g ht l o g s w i l l be o ns i t e i n the po s s e s s i o n o f

the PI C.

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8

FEDERAL REGI STRY SUMMARY

Pur s ua nt t o 14 CFR 11.81, i nf o r m a t i o n t o i nc l ude f

o r e xe m pt i o n, su b p ar t F
, the s umm a r y be l o w i s pr o v i de d f

o r publ i c a t i o n i n t he Fe de r a l Re g i s t e r :

Di g i t a l Ma

ppi ng a nd Gr a phi c s s e e k s e xe m

pt i on f r om the r e qui r e m e nt s o f 14 CFR Pa r t 21 pa r a s

. 61.3, 91.9( b)
, 91.103( b)
, 9 1

. 1 09, 91.119, 91.121, 91.151( a ) ( 1)
, 91.203 ( a ) & ( b)
, 91.205 ( b)
, 91.405 ( a )
, 91.407 ( a ) ( 1)
, 91.409 ( a ) ( 1) & ( 2)
, and 91.417 ( a ) & ( b) t o o pe r a t e unm a nne d ai r cr af

t s y s t e m s pur s ua nt t o the F ed er al A v i a t i o n Adm i ni s tr a t i o n M o de r ni z a t i o n and Re f

o r m Ac t o f 2012, Publ i c L aw 112- 95 Fe br ua r y 14, 2012, Se c t i o n 333.

Thi s e xe m

pt i o n w i l l a l l o w Di g i t a l Ma ppi ng and Gr a

phi c s t o o per a t e a s m a l l ( l e s s tha n 2.5k g ) c us t o m de s i g ne d unm anne d a i r c r a f t sy st em ( U A S )
, the DGM 560, N 541 HW
, f o r the pur

po s e s o f a e r i a l pho t o g r a phy , pho t o g r am

m e tr y , pr e c i s i o n a g r i c ul t

ur e , a nd m a

ppi ng

.

CLOSI NG

I n c l o s i ng , I w o ul d l i k e t o t h ank y o u f o r y o ur c o ns i de r a t i o n o f thi s r e que s t

. DMG ha s pr o v i de d w ha t w e be l i e v e t o be s i g ni f

i c ant c o ntr i but i o ns t o the m ana g e m e nt o f bo th p u b l i c and pr i v a t e r e s o ur c e s and ar e
c o nf i de nt t ha t by the g r ant i ng o f thi s e xe m pt i o n y o u w i l l a l l o w us t o e xt e nd and i m pr o v e o ur ser vi ce s t o
s e r v e the publ i c g o o d w i tho ut i nc ur r i ng any i nc r e a s e d s a f

e ty r i s k s t o e i the r

pe r s o n o r pr o pe r ty

.

Si nc e r e l y ,

Wi l l i am H. I s e nbe r g e r , CEO Di g i t a l Ma

ppi ng and Gr a

phi c s

WHI :j b