NVG training
Bigmike:
The ground and flight instruction from ASU is first class. When PHI took over the contract here in New Mexico, ASU came out and did the training. It was 8 hours of ground school and 5 flight hours.
At the same time, ASU was getting their cockpit lighting STC for the Astar, so the feds were here looking at everything, including the classroom instruction.
The four of us pilots had limited NVG flight experience, me being the high timer with about 170 hours, mostly ANVIS-6. One guy had no NVG time. The other two had old PVS-5 and some ANVIS time. Our medical crews did the ground school and then one hour of flight familiarization.
There still seems to be leftover attitudes about their use in that they are hard to adjust to while flying. The training gives you the limitations and you work within those restrictions. The ITT certified NVGs themselves are far and away better than even my earlier experience with ANVIS-6 sets. Around Albuquerque I use them even in the brightly lit city because these new intensifier tubes don’t react to bright lights like older versions. You can see down through the smaller “halos” that surround lights and see the ground, so if you have a problem, instead of having to dodge wires on some lighted road, you can put down in the small field next to the road – all because you can see in the dark now.
We fly with two sets of NVGs, with the crew member usually sitting on the left side. We DID NOT reduce our program weather minimums due to NVG use. We all thought that was just a stupid idea suggested by people without any NVG experience or basic knowledge, let alone common sense.
There is quite the impetus here in the U.S. to get more EMS programs equipped but the physical problem is most of the ITT production seems to be toward the military. To my knowledge, a flight program would be hard pressed to get their aircraft lighting certified and crews trained in 12 months, even if the wrote the big checks today. The NVGs are just hard to get. I think the FAA should look at certifying other intensifier tubes, such as those made by DEP in the Netherlands. That would get more NVGs on the market faster.
One other point about the “big checks”. The NVGs are running less than 10K USD a set. The SX-5 Nitesun we still drag around costs about 27K USD. This is the proverbial no brainer.
Sorry to ramble on and go off topic, but I can’t say enough about having NVGs. In my mind they are the most effective and cheapest safety addition anyone can add to their flight program.
If you have any more questions. Let me know.
Ron Powell