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Night SE

Yes my friend's comment was that he was afraid to turn it on..... in case he was tempted to use it!

YPJT, United Arab Emirates

I have a very high quality gen 2 night vision I have used for about 20 years for searches. It's okay for looking for something, but you really could not fly with it. Yes, with a proper pilot night vision, it can be done, but that is way beyond the scope of general aviation, and should remain so.

FLIR, on the otherhand is a great product. I have flight tested them in several helicopters, with excellent results. There is training involved though, in proper interpretation of what you are seeing. In the worst case, it can be the underwear of the person walking toward you on the ramp - this is not always good.

I was humming along the Frazer River in British Columbia at night in an EC 120 with the night vision going, assessing how well it worked. The owner of the helicopter was in the front with me, and my client, and his engineer in the back. Over the intercom I here a very stressed "Get me the F.... outa here!". Huh?

I looked out, and I had flown into a fog bank at about 400 AGL, and was flying in zero zero. I could see the ground features perfectly, but no one else in the helicopter realized this. I, on the otherhand, was concentrating on the FLIR display, so did not notice the real world. The helicpter was very well equipped, and it was just spotty fog, so straight on, with a mixed reference to the instruments and the FLIR was perfectly fine, but not legal by any means. This is one of the many hazards of such systems - unintended extending of the capabilities of the aircraft, and plot, probably beyond the pilot's skill, particularly if the FLIR should suddenly quit.

With the choice, I would have FLIR in my aircraft, but great self discipline is required in it's use.

Home runway, in central Ontario, Canada, Canada

A friend has an SR22 with FLIR (camera under the left wing)....I'm sure that would improve the chances of missing something solid during a forced landing at night...unless had already deployed the BRS....in which case it may not be such good viewing! AWQ

YPJT, United Arab Emirates

Night vision googles? They are on Ebay for a few hundred pounds.

Those would be 1st or 2nd Generation and they aren't much good. They are OK for shooting rabbits etc, with an IR illuminator on the rifle, but for actually seeing at night you need 3rd Gen and they are more like $3000+ and are export controlled. One can buy them over the counter or via mail order in the USA but they can't be legally exported out of there (by a civilian, etc).

It's an interesting topic

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Night vision googles? They are on Ebay for a few hundred pounds.

Or an N reg one for that matter I guess.

Regret no current medical
Was Sandtoft EGCF, North England, United Kingdom

Yep, thought I'd heard something along those lines. So find a Cessna Silver Eagle in Europe and move it to the G reg. - no problem!!! apart from €€€'s/£££'s.

Regret no current medical
Was Sandtoft EGCF, North England, United Kingdom

The good thing about EASA is that if there was any certification, STC or whatever in any of the EASA countries (pre EASA) it will be valid in whole EASA coverage. So if you find a STC in Norway or a certificate in Italy it will be ok with a G reg.

United Kingdom

Why not? I have seen a few on D reg>

Well I'll stand corrected - I always understood that getting what amounts to a low sale 'special' onto the G reg. (certification) was simple to expensive for the manufacturer, or converter. In this case O & N Aircraft

http://www.onaircraft.com

Are things different now we have EASA?

Regret no current medical
Was Sandtoft EGCF, North England, United Kingdom

This is not cheap (what Is) but this turbine conversion of the Cessna 210 seems to 'tick' a lot of boxes. Sure you'd never get it on the G register.

Why not? I have seen a few on D reg, so if you can fly it on a German register, you must be able to do that on a G reg with a full CoA.

United Kingdom
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