Has anyone used Gowdy Brothers Aerospace to aquire 333 Exemption status and if so, how did the process go?

Do it yourself.
There's no need to pay anyone to do it for you.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-4-12 06:25
Do it yourself.
There's no need to pay anyone to do it for you.

This^

Just scroll through 333 Exemptions that have been approve already by the FAA and find one that resemble your business plan and use it as a templet.

FYI: Keep in mind that the 333 Exemption is conditional on the operator having a FAA certified pilots license. No exceptions. Anyone can receive a 333 Exemption but the drone pilot must have a certified pilots license. Although there is no ending of people flying without a pilots license.

That is correct but a word of caution.  It is true the FAA on their 333 page recommends you find an application on their "docket" server that resembles your needs and then kind of copy/paste to make it your own.  That being said, here is the rub....

It is taking the FAA 6 months plus to approve.  During that time the requirements have changed.  So when you look at an exemption petition, if it is more than 6 months old, the FAA has changed requirements of operators applying for a 333 Exemption for business purposes.  Here are a few examples....

Documentation of your flight logs (and I'd like to see a thread on this as the DJI app basically has our flight data in it.  I'd love it if it could be printed so I can log my flight time).
Need for a visual observer (VO)
One positive is a new FAA document 007-3300 (I think that is correct) which has a list of approved drones.  You can petition you will be flying drones on that list which then should eliminate the need to amend your petition.

One of the reasons why the petition list is so long is that a lot of the professional aerial services are acquiring different drones and having to petition an amendment to their already approved 333 exemption.  

Doing the paperwork of finding what you want and making your own document took me 4-6 hours of internet sifting.  But going back and updating the new changes to what I had already created added a few hours.  There are good examples online of petitioners who DID NOT use an attorney who were granted a 333 exemption.

Since DJI's Go App has flight data as well as manuals online, I'd like to suggest to them they make these more user friendly as they really contain much of the documentation you need to have on file if you are ever inspected by the FAA while flying with a 333 exemption.

Or......you can be lazy and wait a few years for them to sort this out.

They are suppose to waive the pilots license in June so don't worry to much about that one.