Petition for Exemption; Summary of Petition Received; Pyka Inc., 64609 [2020-22512]

Agencies

• Federal Aviation Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 198 (Tuesday, October 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 64609]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22512]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Summary Notice No. 2020-66]


Petition for Exemption; Summary of Petition Received; Pyka Inc.

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief 
from specified requirements of Federal Aviation Regulations. The 
purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and 
participation in, the FAA's exemption process. Neither publication of 
this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary 
is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final 
disposition.

DATES: Comments on this petition must identify the petition docket 
number and must be received on or before November 2, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by docket number FAA-2019-0948 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for sending your 
comments electronically.
     Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30; U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12-140, 
West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket 
Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at (202) 493-2251.
    Privacy: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments 
from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts 
these comments, without edit, including any personal information the 
commenter provides, to https://www.regulations.gov, as described in the 
system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
https://www.dot.gov/privacy.
    Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at 
https://www.regulations.gov at any time. Follow the online instructions 
for accessing the docket or go to the Docket Operations in Room W12-140 
of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jake Troutman, (202) 683-7788, Office 
of Rulemaking, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue 
SW, Washington, DC 20591.
    This notice is published pursuant to 14 CFR 11.85.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on October 2, 2020.
Brandon Roberts,
Executive Director, Office of Rulemaking.

Petition for Exemption

    Docket No.: FAA-2019-0948.
    Petitioner: Pyka Inc.
    Section(s) of 14 CFR Affected: Sec. Sec.  61.3(a)(1)(i); 91.7(a); 
91.119(c); 91.121; 91.151(b); 91.405(a); 91.407(a)(1); 91.409(a)(1) and 
(2); 91.417(a) and (b); 137.19(c), (d), (e)(2)(ii), (e)(2)(iii), and 
(e)(2)(v); 137.31; 137.33; 137.41(c); and 137.42.
    Description of Relief Sought: Pyka Inc. (Pyka) seeks relief from 14 
CFR 61.3(a)(1)(i); 91.7(a); 91.119(c); 91.121; 91.151(b); 91.405(a); 
91.407(a)(1); 91.409(a)(1) and (2); 91.417(a) and (b); 137.19(c), (d), 
(e)(2)(ii), (e)(2)(iii), and (e)(2)(v); 137.31; 137.33; 137.41(c); and 
137.42 and has amended their petition for exemption. By letter dated 
November 15, 2019, Pyka submitted a petition for exemption to request 
relief for operations under Sec.  44807 of the FAA Reauthorization Act 
of 2018 (P.L. 115-254) to operate its proprietary Pyka P-400b fixed-
wing unmanned aircraft system (UAS), with a maximum takeoff weight of 
600 pounds (lbs.), for aerial agricultural spraying operations in 
remote rural operating environments in the United States. By letter 
dated July 17, 2020, Pyka submitted an amendment to their original 
petition to replace the P-400b UAS with the proprietary Pyka Pelican 
UAS. The Pelican is derived from the Pyka P-400b and has a gross weight 
of 1,124 lbs. The Pelican is equipped with the same fuselage and flight 
control software as the P-400b. It improves on the safety of the design 
with sealed enclosures for various subsystems, improved stability and 
ground handling, a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) obstacle 
avoidance system, and improved power density for better performance. In 
addition, the increased payload capacity of the Pelican UAS will allow 
for more efficient spraying operations. For these reasons, Pyka seeks 
to replace the P-400b UAS with the Pelican UAS in its pending petition 
for exemption. The only change requested in this amendment is the 
aircraft to be operated. The original relief requested and the concept 
of operations remains the same.

[FR Doc. 2020-22512 Filed 10-9-20; 8:45 am]
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