After performing flawlessly for 10 years and 1.1 million nautical miles, the Astronics Max-Viz 600 EVS on a Cessna Caravan flown by Industrial Maintenance Services, Inc. (IMS) has been retired. Astronics will display the working unit October 22-24 during the 2019 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth C11617, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“That system had been on our airplane for 1.1 million miles, and it was maintenance free. We never had an issue with it whatsoever and it certainly worked as advertised,” said Chief Pilot Dan Weber. “I would not want to fly the airplane without it.”
The Max-Viz 600 EVS was installed in 2008 when the aircraft was new, as the first Max-Viz system installed on the Caravan, via a Supplemental Type Certificate. IMS has installed the Max-Viz 600 system on many Caravans, where it has continuously proven its reliability and safety benefits.
While IMS' EVS system was performing faultlessly, the company worked with Astronics Max-Viz to replace it with a new Max-Viz 600 system. The wear and tear included a pockmarked camera lens that actually didn't affect the displayed image, according to Weber. He indicated that he relied on the system for a number of flying benefits, including:
- Identifying cloud formations prior to penetrating icing conditions
- Situational awareness
- Seeing the runway conditions ahead of time, including wildlife incursions
- Utilizing night vision for up-to-the second verification of weather events and confirming weather radar and satellite images, which have a slight lag time
- Enhancing the identification of nighttime flight traffic
The Max-Viz 600 EVS is a multi-spectral imager with 320x240 long wave infrared sensor and a visible light and near infrared sensor. It offers patented blending and dynamic range management image processing designed for general aviation. Housed in an aerodynamic surface mount fairing, the lightweight sensors enable quick and easy installation. The sensor images present on any display that accepts NTSC/Analog RS-170 video signals.
IMS is a highly diversified heavy and general construction company and uses the Caravan to transport company personnel to its projects throughout the country. To date they’ve flown to more than 260 locations.
Click to learn more about the Max-Viz 600 EVS and other enhanced vision systems by Astronics.
