Astronics receive approval in China for Max-Viz-1500

Astronics Corporation’s Max-Viz-1500 enhanced vision system has received approval by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for retrofit installation in Bell B206B/206L-4/407 helicopters.

Executive vice president of Astronics, Elliott Troutman said, “Astronics concurs with Bell Helicopter’s assessment that China will be the world’s strongest helicopter growth market with a need for 2,000 aircraft during the next decade. We also expect that there will be a tremendous need for enhanced situational awareness and improved safety in the country.  Having the approval of the CAAC for the Astronics Max-Viz-1500 enhanced vision system for these helicopters is an important step in serving that country’s expanding helicopter operations.”

“In some areas in China, atmospheric conditions due to weather and smog present an optimal imaging environment for enhanced vision technology that can help to reduce stress for pilots operating in such obscured environments,” Troutman said.

According to Bell’s statistics, only 600 commercial helicopters support 1.3 billion people around China, while more than 8,000 helicopters support about 300 million people in the US.

The Astronics Max-Viz enhanced vision system will be on display at Heli-Expo 2013, in Las Vegas from March 5-7.