Is it me or this overkill for a taildragger?

Are they going to put an autothrottle on it next?

From AOPA website

Aviat to offer night vision system on Huskies

Aviat Aircraft wants to be the first small airplane manufacturer to help pilots peer through fog, smoke, and darkness. Aviat intends to offer Forward.Vision's EVS-100 enhanced vision system as optional equipment on Husky models. Up until now, such systems were only available on high-end business jets. The EVS-100 can extend forward vision by eight times what the naked eye can see. This is particularly helpful during engine-out landings at night or in bad weather. Pilots can also use it to spot animals or obstructions on the runway in dark conditions. An infrared sensor weighing 1.2 pounds is mounted on top of the airplane and connected to a display in the cockpit. Aviat will offer the system as a $22,000 option on new aircraft or as a retrofit on earlier models.

Sounds like a nice option if you fly at night or in IMC! I see no problem with technology being put to use if it improves safety.

Huskies and cubs ARE two different airplanes. I say keep it simple.

behindpropellers said:

Sounds like a nice option if you fly at night or in IMC! I see no problem with technology being put to use if it improves safety.

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I know that I currently fly behind a HUD with EVS at my job, my point is did you ever think you would hear of that type of equipment going into a Husky. If you look at the NTSB database you would think that Cirrus, Mooney, Columbia etc. would be leading the charge for EVS technology, those aircraft put alot more IMC flying hours in per year...

Hey, and only 22G!!



Lemme grab my wallet...

It sounds like Aviat is living up to that ole saying about poor dragsters in California "If it won't go then chrome it"

I personally do not have a need for a IFR Cub or IFR Husky but some people do have that need.

Husky's have been sold to Border Patrol in the past and the EVS-100 would be a option I think they could sure use. I am sure there are others that will want that option.

In the highly competitive sport fishing around Alaska's Lake Iliamna at least one DHC-2 beaver pilot uses night vision to get to the best fishing spots first. Believe it or not people are paying over $1,200.00 a day to fish for big rainbow trout. Not that many places were 30" rainbow can be caught on a fly on a regular basis so getting to the best spots for big rainbow first is very competitive. I have seen people taking float planes off in the dark many times to get to the best fishing spots first.

I would have to agree with TalkeetnaAT. For some stuff EVS would be great. MTV might chime in; doing surveys on the North Slope in the winter for instance. I don't think this is intended/ aimed at sport pilots.

I'd like to see them come up with a small FLIR that would fit in the front of a super cub and be programmable to detect the body temp of a specific critter. Be nice on those days you just can't see anything moving. I know they got the technology, cost would be prohibitive tho.

S2D said:

I'd like to see them come up with a small FLIR that would fit in the front of a super cub and be programmable to detect the body temp of a specific critter. Be nice on those days you just can't see anything moving. I know they got the technology, cost would be prohibitive tho.

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Back in the 70s I worked with a guy who contracted aerial "hot spoting" on wildfires. He flew active fires at night with an IR TV system looking for hotspots in order to direct fire crews to problem areas. He had a video camera TV setup with IR capability that could actually identify people and animals on the ground.

I rode with him once or twice where we landed on pitch black strips and were able to see deer and horses on the runway and were able to avoid them. They could hear us but couldn't see us. All of the landings were done by watching the IR TV screen. Amazing technology for the time.

I seem to remember him saying that he built the system for around $40k (In late 70's $) The external system was around the size of a basketball (mounted on the wing of a C-210). The TV was about 8 inches square and mounted in the panel with a separate control stick to pan and tilt the camera.

Last I heard he had retired to some tropical island and sold his system to a remote sensing contractor.

I'm not sure I'd be a big fan of this addition for most stuff on this type aircraft, but....

The CL-215 air tankers are now equipped with a very similar if not identical system to allow them to spot hot spots in fires with dense smoke. It works well. Sit in one on the ramp, and have someone walk in front of the plane 50 yards out, and they show up as a bright image, even on a hot day.

I'm sure there will be some applications for this.

Personally, I'd prefer a side looking device, and Aviat is apparently working on that as well.

This entire unit, by the way, weighs less than two pounds.

MTV

I'm surprised nobody else posted this:

A CUB WITH AN AUTOPILOT?
Yes. American Legend Aircraft now offers TruTrak's ADI Pilot II autopilot in its Legend Cub models as an option. TruTrak built the autopilot that got record-setter Steve Fossett around the world. The company was founded by Jim Younkin, the inventor of autopilots for small aircraft. The two-axis system is slaved to the GPS and also features altitude hold. It is connected to the elevators and ailerons. It uses solid-state gyros. Extreme bank angle and low airspeed are annunciated on the display.

John Scott