USA Title 14 CFR Part 107 Waivers (Post your approved/rejected)

licensed pilot · Jan 10, 2017

Amazing. It takes 3 months from some contracted dude to glance at an application and determine is not within the 90 days? I have 5 waiting for a month now.

Talon Six · Jan 14, 2017

Finally got my airspace authorization! The holdup for my local airspace according to the FAA clerk is that CYS is an Air Guard-run ATC, so the FAA had to go through the Western Air Defense Sector to make contact with the ATC bubbas. The FAA guy was very helpful and understanding though - he granted me the authorization for two full months instead of the single day I was originally asking for.

This request was made on 24 Oct 16 and was granted on 13 Jan 17.

Stipulations included in the COA were only to call the local ATC one hour prior to flight, again 15 minutes prior to takeoff, and upon flight completion. They even gave me the secret telephone number to call the tower cab.

Talon Six · Jan 14, 2017

Yeah, it was a long time but I feel like I've cracked the code. I've got a name, email and phone number of one of the FAA guys who is assigned to process COAs for the Northwest Mountain FAA region, and I've got the ATC cab number as a fallback.

On a related note, I met with the CYS Airport Advisory Board last week and talked about the challenges of getting timely airspace authorization with the Deputy Director of Aviation. He said just call ATC direct - "We try to be real friendly with drones".

Droneyboy · Jan 17, 2017

licensed pilot said:
Amazing. It takes 3 months from some contracted dude to glance at an application and determine is not within the 90 days? I have 5 waiting for a month now.

I received my night COA today.....4 weeks for review....4 weeks for approval...total 8 weeks. It expires in 4 years. Geezowie. Client was starting to wonder if I was going to do it or not. I started sounding like I was giving them excuses. By the way "Licensed Pilot", I will be using your night test as proof to have on hand at the job site. Thank You.

licensed pilot · Jan 17, 2017

You are welcome. I still haven't done the night demo flight for police agencies but the waiver is good for 4 years too. I also just received my first airspace waiver (class D).

2nd2non · Jan 17, 2017

Droneyboy said:
I received my night COA today.....4 weeks for review....4 weeks for approval...total 8 weeks. It expires in 4 years. Geezowie. Client was starting to wonder if I was going to do it or not. I started sounding like I was giving them excuses. By the way "Licensed Pilot", I will be using your night test as proof to have on hand at the job site. Thank You.

Is the night COA for a specific location or can you use anywhere?

Droneyboy · Jan 17, 2017

2nd2non said:
Is the night COA for a specific location or can you use anywhere?

On the COA, under standard provisions...item 1, it indicates that the application be attached to the COA. My application details a lon lat with radius. As I recollect, the application was on- line and I'm not sure if I can get a copy from the FAA on one of their sites where I sign in etc. Other than the Application (which I don't know if I can get a copy of) there is no mention of location for my flight other than Class G airspace. However....the reference to the application will prevent me from flying outside of the radius I provided. The Remote Pilot Cert comes with a down side.............they can take it away.

Droneyboy · Jan 17, 2017

licensed pilot said:
You are welcome. I still haven't done the night demo flight for police agencies but the waiver is good for 4 years too. I also just received my first airspace waiver (class D).

On the Class D waiver...did you go with 200 foot AGL within the 5 mile radius reducing your AGL toward the center?? Some details.....

Bigdz · Jan 17, 2017

I was denied a waiver, honestly didn't do my do diligence and wanted to get a taste of what would be the result; if I turned in some thing.

Anyway, any of you guys who have been cleared have a template or reference link I could read up on/research?

This whole process is nuts, thought by getting my 107 I'd be good to go, but all this red tap is frustrating to the point, I may just throw in the towel.

Any help would be great!?thx

RMartin · Jan 22, 2017

ADT said:
Now that Part 107 is live I thought it could be a good thing to gather some data on the waiver process and how long the approvals are taking. The form instructions (here) say that it can take up to 90 days for approval. However, I have heard on another forum that Airspace requests have been approved much faster (some say around 24 hours).

For those that don't know, the website to submit a request for waiver/airspace authorization is HERE.

As you receive responses on your waiver I think we would all appreciate it if you provided some basic information on your request, how long it took to get a response and if it was approved or rejected. It doesn't have to be much information, just something simple like:

Requested on: September 1st
Requested waiver for: 107.29 Daylight operations
or Requested waiver for certain airspace (please list the Class Airspace that you requested)
Received response on:
Approved: Y/N

Requested 30 Nov 2016
Requested authorization for operation in Class D airspace
Received verbal response 22 Dec 2016
Received CoA via Email 24 Dec 2016
Approved: Y; flight restricted to 200' AGL 2.5nm from regional airport for a 3/4 radius.

As a side note: anyone with a waiver for operation over people, I was told by a person at our FSDO that all waivers in the system are on hold until the new administration seats and a new Secretary of Transportation is appointed and confirmed, after which he/she will need to be brought up to speed and a decision made as to the new policy, and then it goes to Congress for approval. The short answer: no waivers for flights over people in the near future..

RMartin · Jan 22, 2017

Droneyboy said:
On the Class D waiver...did you go with 200 foot AGL within the 5 mile radius reducing your AGL toward the center?? Some details.....

The closer you are to the airport reported center long/lats, the more restrictive the process becomes. A good rule of thumb is to start at 200' AGL or below @ 2 nm from the airport center. I have a waiver request for 300 ' AGL at the outer boundary of a regional airport...Class D airspace. I expect to be approved in the next month or sooner, depending on their workload.
I have seen a post on another forum by an aviation attorney that basically said not to expect much in the approval range if you are planning on asking for airspace 1-1.5 or closer. Take that with a grain of salt but I wouldn't expect anything over 100' AGL within a mile of the airport.

redspiderdronellc · Jan 23, 2017

Has anyone received an airspace waiver (not authorization)? If so can you say what class airspace. Thanks.

HFI · Jan 31, 2017

Droneyboy said:
I received my night COA today.....4 weeks for review....4 weeks for approval...total 8 weeks. It expires in 4 years. Geezowie. Client was starting to wonder if I was going to do it or not. I started sounding like I was giving them excuses. By the way "Licensed Pilot", I will be using your night test as proof to have on hand at the job site. Thank You.

Quick question - after clicking on the "submit" button did you get a confirmation email nearly immediately or did it take several hours/days? I submitted my request last night, got the green successful submission message, but I have not yet received a confirmation email. I'm just wondering if I may have entered my email incorrectly and need to contact someone to make a correction.

Thanks!,

HFI -
Paranoid in VA

RMartin · Jan 31, 2017

HFI said:
Quick question - after clicking on the "submit" button did you get a confirmation email nearly immediately or did it take several hours/days? I submitted my request last night, got the green successful submission message, but I have not yet received a confirmation email. I'm just wondering if I may have entered my email incorrectly and need to contact someone to make a correction.

Thanks!,

HFI -
Paranoid in VA

I have submitted three CoA request so far and have not received a confirmation email on any of them. Maybe its just my regional office (Fort Worth). The turn around has usually been three to four weeks.

Droneyboy · Jan 31, 2017

HFI said:
Quick question - after clicking on the "submit" button did you get a confirmation email nearly immediately or did it take several hours/days? I submitted my request last night, got the green successful submission message, but I have not yet received a confirmation email. I'm just wondering if I may have entered my email incorrectly and need to contact someone to make a correction.

Thanks!,

HFI -
Paranoid in VA

Usually takes a day or three to receive a confirmation............

Droneyboy · Jan 31, 2017

Regarding Airspace.........On the FAA site....there is a box for checking smaller boxes that indicate whether you are submitting for a Waiver or Authorization regarding certain Airspace...in my case Class D.
In my haste I checked both(107.41).....I received an e-mail back in 2 business days(yesterday AM) to pick one or the other and re-submit.

My question is.........which is easier to obtain.....they both reference 107.41??

I felt fortunate I didn't have to wait a month to find this out. No review, no submit additional info....just pick one and re submit. (From scratch of course)

RMartin · Jan 31, 2017

Droneyboy said:
Regarding Airspace.........On the FAA site....there is a box for checking smaller boxes that indicate whether you are submitting for a Waiver or Authorization regarding certain Airspace...in my case Class D.
In my haste I checked both(107.41).....I received an e-mail back in 2 business days(yesterday AM) to pick one or the other and re-submit.

My question is.........which is easier to obtain.....they both reference 107.41??

I felt fortunate I didn't have to wait a month to find this out. No review, no submit additional info....just pick one and re submit. (From scratch of course)

Authorization is easier than Waiver. Your asking for permission to fly in controlled airspace with a CoA. With a waiver, you are asking permission to ignore the rule.

HFI · Jan 31, 2017

Droneyboy said:
Usually takes a day or three to receive a confirmation............

Just got mine receipt confirmation after less then 24 hrs. Phew!

HFI

mikesher · Feb 16, 2017

Droneyboy said:
In my haste I checked both(107.41)..

Ugh, I just did the same thing.. Wish I would have read your post before submitting. Now, I'll wait for the re-submit email.

BTW, which one did you choose (Auth or Waiver), and was it granted?

Droneyboy · Feb 16, 2017

mikesher said:
Ugh, I just did the same thing.. Wish I would have read your post before submitting. Now, I'll wait for the re-submit email.

BTW, which one did you choose (Auth or Waiver), and was it granted?[/QUOT

I submitted it as a waiver to later find out that authorization is easier to get. So it may get rejected. I'll wait before re-submitting another one. I did say I would contact the control tower each time I flew but we'll see. The FAA site shouldn't allow you to pick both.

USA Title 14 CFR Part 107 Waivers (Post your approved/rejected)

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