Waiver Watch | Ep 31: "Hot Waivers" in 2020
Welcome to Waiver Watch!
It’s a jam packed week of waivers at the FAA! Here is the agenda for this Episode 31:
Weekly totals
107.39(a) approvals
107.51(b) approvals
107.35 approval
Weekly Waiver Totals
June 4 - 10, 2020 saw 39 waivers approved:
32 - Daylight Operations (107.29)
3 - Operations Over Human beings (107.39)
1 - Simultaneous Opration of Multiple Small UAS (107.35)
3- High Altitude (107.51(b))
Approval numbers take a nice jump up this week with California, Oklahoma, and Texas as the hot spots this week. South Dakota has a waiver approved for the first time in quite a while!
107W-2020-02000 - Rantizo LLC
Simultaneous operation of multiple sUAS for the purposes of spraying has become a thing in 2020. We first covered this concept of operation in Episode 21. Rantizo, LLC is now the third company this year to have received a waiver to 107.35 to conduct simultaneous operations of 3 DJI MG-1P aircraft with one RPIC. Rantizo, LLC is headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa and appears to offer a turn-key drone spraying solution.
Just to recap a few items from Episode 21:
These are very unique waivers as they have to be used in combination with an exemption. The exemptions typically cover a variety of Part 137 regulations and § 107.36. Rantizo, LLC’s exemption covers the following regulations:
14 C.F.R. § 107.36
14 C.F.R. § 137.19(c) and (d)
14 C.F.R. § 137.19(e)(2)(ii), (iii), and (v)
14 C.F.R. § 137.31(a) and (b)
14 C.F.R. § 137.33(a) and (b)
14 C.F.R. § 137.41(c)
14 C.F.R. § 137.42
Operations are limited to the area described in the Waiver Application (which we can’t see but point is, it’s not a blanket approval)
Training is an important part of safe operations under this waiver. The Responsible Person must ensure training covers 14 CFR part 137, evasive and emergency maneuvers, and maintaining appropriate distances from persons, vessels, vehicles and structures
Is 2020 the year simultaneous operation of multiple small UAS becomes much more prevalent???
107.51(b) Approvals
It feels like we cover at least one 107.51(b) waiver a week these days, they are becoming quite common along with 107.39(a) ParaZero SafeAir waivers. This week we have three!
107W-2020-01928 | Mason Lanphear
Mason Lanphear got approval to operate up to 800’ AGL near Moxee, WA. He appears to work for a company called Vital Agronomics specializing in crop remote sensing and plant monitoring.
107W-2020-02008 | Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation got approval to operate up to 700’ AGL at their Folsom, CA facility. The waiver location appears to be in the fence line of their secure facility, great for keeping the ground risk to a minimum.
107W-2020-02232 | Dynetics, Inc.
Dynetics, Inc must be in the middle of a string of high altitude tests, this is their third 107.51(b) in the last month. We covered their previous waivers in Episode 29 and this waiver is very similar to the previous two.
107.39(a) approvals
ParaZero SafeAir continues to be the only guaranteed option for a 107.39(a) - Operations Over Human Beings waiver. This week, three companies received these waivers:
Frontier Precision UAS - ParaZero SafeAir Phantom
Milestone - ParaZero SafeAir Phantom
Helios Visions - ParaZero SafeAir Mavic
Wrap Up
Thanks for reading this week! Leave us a comment if you have any questions or would like us to write about any specific waivers next time! If you have a waiver and would like to join us on the show to talk about it and other waivers, drop us a note! Until then…
