Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 25 seconds.
This delivery marks yet another avionics milestone for Gulfstream. The company was the first original equipment manufacturer to certify EVS in September 2001 after more than seven years of research, development and testing. The first EVS was installed on a GV.
EVS captures real-time images of an aircraft’s surroundings using an externally mounted infrared camera. This enables the flight crew to see runway markings, taxiways, adjacent roads and surrounding areas in conditions of limited visibility. The system also helps crews avoid runway incursion and hazards that would otherwise not be easily visible.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) validated the safety benefits of enhanced flight vision systems in January 2004, when it made a Federal Aviation Regulation Part 91 rule change, allowing pilots to use enhanced flight visibility to identify the runway environment and continue the approach below decision height. In 2008, Gulfstream received approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for its aircraft equipped with the Gulfstream EVS on Head-Up Display to obtain operational credit for continuing approaches to 100 feet/30.4 meters.
“Gulfstream sets the standard in business aviation for bringing advanced safety technologies like EVS to market,” said Dan Nale, senior vice president, Programs, Engineering and Test. “Gulfstream EVS significantly improves safety by increasing a pilot’s situational awareness at night and during low-visibility conditions.”
Gulfstream EVS II earned FAA approval in late 2007. It is lighter and has more capability than the original. The third generation of Gulfstream’s EVS (EVS III) will be incorporated into the recently announced all-new Gulfstream G500 and G600 family of aircraft.
Gulfstream EVS comes standard on Gulfstream’s in-production large-cabin aircraft, the G650ER, G650, G550 and G450, and EVS III will also come standard on the G500 and G600. EVS is available as an option on new G280s and as a retrofit on in-service G280, GV, GIV-SP and GIV aircraft. EVS is also available with Head-Down Display on new and in-service G150s.
