Sophisticated Simplicity: Installing Enhanced Vision Is Easy and Profitable

Successful businesses are born by creation of an expertise that few have thought to develop and many are afraid to try. This is especially true in the aircraft maintenance and modification business.

Creating that expertise takes practice and practice doesn’t just make perfect, it makes efficient. And as every shop manager knows, efficient use of labor grows stronger with repetition, same team, same work deck, same platforms getting the same retrofit leads to nose to tail jobs, all adding up to more profit per work order.

Greater profit per job is especially true if your new expertise complements an established one, providing an up-sell opportunity.

For example, sophisticated systems such as the Garmin G1000 in a King Air or G600H in a helicopter, while pure magic in what they do, are fairly simple to install – almost plug and play – not much (apparently) “magic” from an installation standpoint.

But there may be opportunity for the shop in installing an IDS like the Garmin products mentioned above; that is the allure. Now that the aircraft is being equipped with video capable multi-function displays (MFD), why not add an Infrared EVS camera – on the tail boom to monitor the tail rotor clearance on helicopters, or on the nose for better pilot night situational awareness, or on the nose of the King Air for safer nighttime operations at unfamiliar remote strips?

Infrared cameras, while extremely sophisticated electronic technology born of exotic manufacturing processes and techniques, are easy to install and operate. Operating the camera is limited to “power on-power off” and “zoom in-zoom out.” It has to be that easy for us pilots to grasp, right?

Installing an EVS sensor is a bit more complicated than operating the system but well within the capabilities of any avionics shop – almost equivalent for the seasoned technician to the pilot’s challenge of turning the system on and off.

And the rewards of developing a niche expertise can be fixed price installations that turbocharge the bottom line of initial primary avionics retrofit jobs.

So what is the bottom line from an installation work deck process standpoint? As you might suspect, it is slightly different for a fixed wing aircraft than it is for a rotor wing aircraft. This is mostly due to relative ease of access on helicopters over fixed wing birds and the slower airspeeds and greater access to equipment bays, but the bottom line is essentially the same: simple installation of sophisticated equipment.

So let’s look at two installation examples, using popular well-known airframes, the King Air for fixed wing and the Airbus EC135 for the rotor wing. In each case and for a crisper comparison, we will chart the overall installation process for the Astronics Max-Viz EVS 1500. In both cases, there is an STC with installation kit for each of our candidate aircraft.

In the event there is no STC for a particular aircraft installation of this system, you might contact your FAA or your primary inspector and look into a field approval. The simple fact is that installing a camera on an airplane is basic stuff and some FAA offices will allow field approvals. As a rule, the higher the performance of the aircraft, the lower the chances of obtaining installation authority via field approval, in spite of the simplicity of the system.

In this case, the system is simple because virtually all operational parameters of the Astronics EVS product are automatic and controlled within the logic circuitry of the line replaceable unit (LRU), including anti-ice heating of the main component.

The Customer Calls

We begin when your customer, calling to schedule a panel upgrade, asks for a quote to furnish and install an infrared camera or, better yet, your avionics sales rep suggests the caller include an EVS system.

Understanding the system application, how the customer intends to use the add-on system, in this case a night vision/poor visibility aiding enhanced vision system, is key to a successful outcome.

In the end, what you are installing in the aircraft, besides the camera LRU wires, switches, and knobs, is actually an image so that the pilots (and optionally, the passengers) can see clearly at night and in marginal weather what they cannot see with their own unaided eyes.

So, how many displays in addition to the video capable MFD will you be installing? Will passengers have access to the images generated by the EVS? If so, on what monitor? Technically, any monitor capable of displaying an RS 170 composite video will suffice. Companies like Flight Display Systems have an abundant variety of displays for virtually every application.

Each question not only clarifies the work scope up front for better planning, but, again can add money to the P&L.

Check with the Supplier

Contact the preferred equipment supplier and check for price and availability of the system and STC/kit. Be sure to ask the manufacturer for other considerations (like export restrictions) they may think are necessary to address.

Contact the IDS manufacturer and confirm that the dash number of the MFD is video capable. Some OEMs still charge a fee for the “KEY” to enable video display.

Both the EC135 and King Air Astronics Max-Viz 1500 STCs include an installation kit with components designed for the airframe and installation drawings and instructions written for professional avionics shops.

Installation can take as little as 25 hours on a helicopter to 40/120 hours on a turboprop like the King Air.

Make sure when you give customers estimates you know the time involved. Don’t let the corporate structure of your group, where several separate internal P&Ls are involved, increase the estimate to the point you don’t get the business.

Removal of one or both of the flight crew seats for access are the kinds of job specific tasks that vary from work order to work order and run the install hours up or down as the case may be. This is why planning the work is key. In the case of an EVS installation concurrent with a panel upgrade, access labor and costs are spread across two revenue-generating operations, dumping more money to the bottom line.

In some cases you will have to build up the wire harnesses and order the specified connectors. Some STC kits have premanufactured harness components. Be sure to nail that down in the ordering and planning phase.

Otherwise, best practices, like generous maintenance loops for wiring, mindful crimping of pin outs and wiring routes, will make for a smooth delivery.

Troubleshooting

Sophisticated simplicity also means there are no field repairable components for you as the installer to worry about. If when you power up this EVS for the first time, it doesn’t play trouble shooting is simple:

1. Verify connectors seated

2. Verify display settings correct

3. Verify CB closed and power on

4. Verify pin outs correct

5. Verify coaxial connectors continuity

If still no joy, send the LRU back to the OEM for repair.

Review the accompanying illustrations for a visual walk through of an Astronics Max-Viz 1500 EVS on an Airbus EC135 and see how simple sophisticated can be.

Lou Churchville is a freelance writer who contributes to several aviation publications on a regular basis. An Air Force brat, Lou soloed at 17 in a J3 cub at Albrook AFB in the Panama Canal Zone. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in political science, he went on to flight school (more fun than law school) where he earned his fixed wing Commercial/Instrument/Multi/CFI ratings. He lives with his wife, Annie, and two cats, Crumpet and Tommy LaMar, in Portland, OR.