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Mid-Canada Mod Center (MC2) is pleased to announce a complete avionics upgrade to a DHC Turbo Beaver.
The aircraft, a DHC Beaver, MkIII variant, was factory built as a turbine aircraft in 1966. The aircraft is currently based in Sudbury, Ont., and the owners use it in support of their business interests in the north..
After consultation with MC2, the decision was made to upgrade the entire system to a suite that would provide maximum safety and operational efficiency in all conditions and environments. In the planning and design, particular attention was paid to the operational challenges and conditions encountered when working in circumstances that are considered somewhat typical of air ops in the north.
Project Features
The MC2 team created a new, purpose designed, integrated avionics suite. After review and consideration of the many aftermarket options available, the decision was made to use core components of Garmin’s system of retrofit avionics.
MC2 based the mod around a Garmin G600. This option places glass cockpit capabilities into the aircraft and offers enhanced situational awareness, safety, and pilot workload reduction. Using a dual-screen, it pairs both a primary flight display (PFD) and a multi-function (MFD) display into a single bezel.
The G600 also uses a scaled version of Garmin’s SVT (Synthetic Vision Technology). SVT provides a “virtual reality” perspective of ground and water features, obstacles and traffic, and enhances the pilot’s view of primary flight data by giving it a realistic visual frame of reference — especially in solid IFR or nighttime/marginal VFR conditions.
The G600 uses a GRS 77 Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS), combining inputs from GPS, magnetometer and air data computer to provide an accurate digital output and referencing of aircraft position, rate, vector and acceleration data. A Garmin GTN 750 NAV/COM provides quick and easy touchscreen access to the GPS/Nav/Comm/MFD and allows pilots to fly WAAS LPV approaches down to 200′ minimums and displays charts, traffic, weather plus more. A Garmin TCAS GTS825 finishes up the core components. This unit tracks up to 75 targets within a 40 nm interrogation range. Active traffic is enhanced with ADS-B. Spoken ATC-like aural alerts help keep the pilot’s eyes outside scanning for Targets.
Bill Arsenault, VP of MC2 stated, “The number of avionics options for renewing older aircraft keeps growing. The DHC Beaver in all its variations has long been a staple of hard working, smaller and specialty focused flight operators. The chance to bring new technology and safety into such operations is a major step. Like any mod, there is a cost, but when compared to the price of new aircraft, and especially one that has will provide the length of service that Beavers do, that expense proves itself worthwhile. This aircraft will provide many years of continued, reliable service. We are pleased and honoured that we were given the opportunity to bring extended life to a Canadian aviation icon. Working on projects like this is both a challenge and reward for the MC2 team.”
