Montreal-based ABC Completions has received the first certification for installation of the Max-Viz EVS-1000 enhanced vision system (EVS) in a Bombardier Global Express. Canadian supplemental type certification (STC) is expected to be followed this month by US approval.
The uncooled infrared sensor has been installed in the tail of the new US-registered Global Express, with the EVS image displayed on a 160mm (6.3in) flat-panel, swing-arm monitor mounted at eye level on the co-pilot's side of the cockpit. The image can also be displayed on the centre-console flight-management system control/display unit, and ABC plans to offer a left-side EVS display for the pilot, for use during taxiing, says president Gary Nash.
ABC manages completions on behalf of Bombardier customers and has a facility next to the aircraft manufacturer's Dorval completion centre. The company plans to perform its second Global Express EVS installation in February, and has provided quotes for 14 installations so far, mainly for retrofit, says Nash. The EVS-1000 costs around $150,000 installed, and the first system was fitted in less than five days, he says.
The EVS-1000 is a situational-awareness aid, helping the crew see terrain, acquire the runway on approach and navigate while taxiing in reduced visibility. Bombardier, working with Thales Avionics and CMC Electronics, is developing its own EVS for the Global family, but this is a more capable nose-mounted sensor with head-up display designed to provide reduced approach minima.
Nash says the cheaper EVS-1000 is complementary to the Bombardier EVS on the Global Express. "Half the benefit of EVS is on the ground, while taxiing, and the tail provides a great vantage point," he says. ABC says STCs are pending for the Dassault Falcon 900 series, the Sikorsky S-76, Gulfstream G-IV/IVSP, Pilatus PC-12, Learjet 35 and Raytheon Beech King Air 200.
Source: Flight International
