Canadair Water Bombers To Get Enhanced Vision Systems

Those who watched the reality TV show "Ice Pilots" on NatGeo last year may remember the delivery of two CL-215 water bombers purchased from a Canadian aviation company by the government of Turkey. Now, those two airplanes are to be fitted with Enhanced Vision systems through a cooperative agreement between Max-Viz and Rocky Mountain Aircraft of Calgary, Alberta Canada.

The two aircraft will have Max-Viz EVS-1500 installed to assist with their fire suppression activities in Turkey. “This is a follow-on installation activity after outfitting the Government of Manitoba, Canada with similar installations using Rocky Mountain’s STC design for the CL-215,” states Tim Shaw, Avionics Manager for Rocky Mountain Aircraft. “The success of the EVS-1500 in these fire environments is unparalleled within the industry, and will make a dramatic difference in the effectiveness and safety for this launch evaluation initiative in Turkey” Shaw states. “The test flights over the Anatolian landscape demonstrated the systems effectiveness in accurately targeting grass fires, but more impressive was a low level pass over a reservoir in a simulated scooping run. The EVS clearly showed mooring posts, docks and floating debris well before they were visible to the naked eye. This obvious increase in operational efficiency, situational awareness and flight safety should make this system a “must have” for aerial firefighting operations.”

Bob Yerex, Vice President of Sales for Max-Viz states “I personally completed the fire suppression testing for the EVS-1500 up in Alaska so we knew this cooperative international effort with Rocky was going to be a tremendous success. The ability to effectively eliminate the smoke from the operational profile while simultaneously imaging the physical structure of the fire presents a whole new operational paradigm in this extremely hazardous environment.”  Yerex adds “there is nothing available within the industry that can provide a comparative level of situational awareness or safety enhancement in a dynamic fire environment.” 

FMI: www.rockymountainaircraft.ca, www.max-viz.com