US, Anyone doing the 333 exemption process on their own?

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
It's occurred to me that if I continue to fly and attempt to post video I may find myself under the FAA's microscope, especially if the radio show generates any kind of attention.

Has anyone looked into going the low-cost route to a 333 exemption by doing the paperwork themselves?
Has anyone called a local FAA FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) to ask questions? Were they helpful?

Just thought I'd ask before I venture out into the wild to look for answers.
Thanks!
Bart
 



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fengshuidrone

Guest
Why not ask the guys at "Flight Test" how they get away with what they do. They post flight vids of all kinds on their openly for profit web site taken by folks who probably never go near a regulation (other than voluntary AMA stuff of course.) They sometimes have video done from 3 or 4 drones all chasing a foamy with it's own cam. Then you have "That Drone Show" who I'm not sure is profit oriented or not.
 

Vermiform

Vermiform

Member
fengshuidrone said:
Why not ask the guys at "Flight Test" how they get away with what they do. They post flight vids of all kinds on their openly for profit web site taken by folks who probably never go near a regulation (other than voluntary AMA stuff of course.) They sometimes have video done from 3 or 4 drones all chasing a foamy with it's own cam. Then you have "That Drone Show" who I'm not sure is profit oriented or not.
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Many of those guys are full scale pilots and it is possible they have a 333. That said, even if their main drone camera guy isn't going by the rules, they probably get away with it BECAUSE they are Flight Test. If I were an anal retentive, Nazi FAA bureaucrat, the last person/company in the world I would pick to go after is Bixler or FT. They have the largest online following and the backlash would be the stuff nightmares are made of. Imagine them doing a show just on FAA insanity, links to what congress critters you need to call and a link to donate to the FT defense legal fund.

Now that I think about it, it would be kinda entertaining if they did.........
 

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fengshuidrone

Guest
I think it's time they did a show about the "regulations" the government is ramming down our throats because they can't control the idiots. Come to think of it, only the law abiding flyers will follow regulations. The idiots will still be there laws or not. The laws will change NOTHING. It's sort of like the gun law idea. The bad guys will break the law anyways. That's what makes them bad guys to begin with....DUH! I know that this concept goes over most lawmakers heads over and over again. Why do we elect such dipshits?
 


SleepyC

SleepyC

www.AirHeadMedia.com
With regard to flitetest, they are not really selling their footage for a profit per say, they are selling video of them enjoying the hobby. Meaning they don't sell the footage to a second party.
 

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fengshuidrone

Guest
SleepyC said:
With regard to flitetest, they are not really selling their footage for a profit per say, they are selling video of them enjoying the hobby. Meaning they don't sell the footage to a second party.
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True, but the footage is being used on a for profit web site and is being produced with end profits in mind. Judging by some of the people that have already been harassed for what they were doing with their footage and what they were harassed for, FT is guilty of breaking the law.
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
I've been kicking this around and while I don't think it should be necessary, if I do something stupid at some point (entirely possible if I must say so myself!), I can't have the FAA knocking on my door and causing a stir with my day job. My next long sit in some far away place I'm going to start doing the research and maybe even contact the FSDO (Flight Standards District Office, in other words, an FAA local office) near me and see what they know about the process. Maybe I'll invite the local FAA guy to be on "Drone" Radio Live and we'll pick his brain for twenty minutes.

The sad thing about all of this is that the day someone does something that the FAA deems careless/reckless, that's the day that their activities will go under a microscope. You can be completely off the FAA's radar but one day, for one careless/reckless accusation, everything you've done can become part of an investigation.

I'd still love to hear of anyone that did the 333 process themselves although it wouldn't surprise me if people would rather keep the process to themselves and protect their investment for a little while longer.
 

SamaraMedia

SamaraMedia

Active Member
I've been patiently plodding my way through the pro's and con's of this budding industry from the day I fashioned my first camera mount out of a couple gutter brackets with rubber grommets (early vibration isolation) to hold a Contour POV to the underside of my Gaui 330 almost 5 years ago. Never would I have imagined we still wouldn't have some type of guidelines in place by now but that just goes to show how slow our bureaucratic process can be.

Although I don't believe I should be required to have a pilots license to fly my UAV (still don't like saying DRONE) commercially I did embark down the road and started taking flying lessons in May in a Piper Cub to get my Sports pilots license. The plan was to get my license by the end of Summer but like all good intentions life crops up and things always seem to take longer than planned. Just spent a month remolding a bathroom so that and the approaching Winter weather has me considering sidelining my lessons until next Spring since I only have about 12 hrs flight time after 6 months. It has not been cheap or easy to make this decision and commitment but my long term thinking is that somewhere down the road having my pilots license and a 333 exemption will help me get work as more businesses begin to feel the pressure to hire "legal" UAV companies. It may even make me an asset to a company that needs an approved pilot for their business.

A friend of mine that has been successful doing aerial UAV work full time without a 333 has decided to take this same path, he is nearing his final hours and tests for his Sport license. He paid someone about $1500 for the paperwork for his filing, which I find reasonable, but has yet to file. I may do the same once I get closer to my license or I may try and sift through the thousands of approved filings and piece together my own. The process seems to be better as more companies are approved and the FAA kind of pushes through applications that have the same type of multirotor that has previously approved. I may lack the legal knowledge to properly write this up but it may be worth a try before dishing out more money.

Good luck with your process Bart.
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
jwoike said:
Good luck with your process Bart.
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Thanks!

I'm going to post what I learn as I learn it to maybe remove some of the mystery. I'd expect legalzoom.com to have it all laid out for under $500 soon.
 

JoeBob

JoeBob

Elevation via Flatulation
I have a template in Word that you can use to get started. Insert your UAV, contact info, and target market.

If I can just figure out how to get a Word file attached to MRF...

Should I eMail that to you, Bart?
 


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fengshuidrone

Guest
Is there fee's involved in obtaining the 333 exemption???
 

Dezy

Dezy

Member
What would the average cost be for attaining a Sport license - including plane rental and instructor?
 


SamaraMedia

SamaraMedia

Active Member
I'm paying about $200/hr to fly a 1940's Piper Cub, have about 10 hours in, 20 hrs minimum required. Not many airports in my state, CT, offering Sport lic., most want to sell you the private lic.
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
many flight schools are barely surviving so it's hard for them to justify a Light Sport category of airplane if it isn't going to fly on a regular basis. Light Sport was supposed to make flying more accessible for regular folks but the planes aren't cheap after all and avgas is ridiculously expensive. the end result is most schools will just stick to teaching to the Private Pilot standard with airplanes they've had paid off for decades (and which are awesome little airplanes which fly great and are easy to maintain).
 

Dezy

Dezy

Member
OK - thanks. There goes the budget for the new MR, or two :cool:

I read somewhere that only 7 -10 hours training in a balloon would count - true? (assuming passing all exams)
 
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