On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 05:03:48 GMT, Shiver Me Timbers
wrote:

Like many armchair pilots and lurkers I enjoy the general discussion
aviation in general, particularily homebuilding.

Now if I was in a position to actually build a plane, considering I
live in Canada with lots of lakes and rivers I would look at some sort
of amphibian as my first choice... like a Coot perhaps, or else
something like a Bearhawk on floats or amphibs.

Well, knowing this newsgroup, I know you'll get at least one response about
the Bearhawk. :-)

Now my curious question back... and perhaps Del could take a shot at
this considering where he lives and the fog and weather that he would
encounter in some of the coastal and inland regions.

How about a FLIR installed. Pointing forwards obviously.

Cost aside.... What sort of benefit could a pilot get from being able
to see what's ahead of them by having a FLIR display in the cockpit.

[SNIP]

Are these systems available, because I can see a day when they will be
available in cars. Imaging coming across a foggy patch of road and
flipping on the old FLIR system to see where the curve in the road is
or whether there's a bunch of cars piling up in front of you.

Didn't Cadillac or someone have a low-light vision system a few years back?
ISTR a commercial showing a couple of deer crossing a heads-up type
display.

FLIR would certainly make an interesting accessory to some types of planes,
especially bush airplanes. It almost certainly would have to be a HUD-type
display, I think....seems like it's be awkward switching from a
panel-mounted display to the windshield during approach. It's one thing
when you've got a co-pilot trained in operating both the aircraft and the
FLIR; it's another when your co-pilot is a half-asleep tourist. Might be
better to have a military-style NVG mounted on your headset.

I've never used FLIRs or other night-vision equipment, but one system's
specs (SPI T14) looks like they're pretty low resolution. Don't know how
well they'd work showing a set of power lines at low altitude and ~100
knots. But I expect the military is trained to do it...

Ron Wanttaja