Story ID: 
SureSight has OEM buyer
By: Harry Weisberger
Caption: A “major bizjet manufacturer” will announce here at the NBAA show that it has selected CMC Electronics’ SureSight enhanced vision system (EVS) for inclusio
Word Count: 329
A “major bizjet manufacturer” will announce here at the NBAA show that it has selected CMC Electronics’ SureSight enhanced vision system (EVS) for inclusion on one or more of its aircraft, according to a spokesman.The Quebec-based company has applied the newly trademarked SureSight label to a family of airborne image intensification systems using short wave infrared (IR) and, still being developed, millimeter wave radar (MMWR) sensors. Rick Beasley, director of EVS development at CMC’s Cincinnati IR products facility, said that several milestones the company announced at NBAA ’01 last December in New Orleans have been met, including a launch order. He added that CMC is on or ahead of schedule to meet additional goals, including field flight trials and certification testing beginning in the first quarter next year. IR sensor certification is on pace for certification in the fourth quarter of 2003, with system certification in the second quarter of 2004 and customer deliveries at the start of 2005.At a press conference yesterday, CMC also announced addition to the SureSight line of a product aimed at the lower end of the business jet market, called the M-Series. For use in aircraft without HUD, it will use a shorter-range IR sensor covering the 8 to 12-micron wavelengths and will improve situational awareness and safety at lower cost, although it will not be able to achieve reduced landing visibilities, Beasley said. Production deliveries of M-Series sensors will begin early next year. The I-Series, to which a “High Res” version was recently added, uses a single IR sensor in the 5-micron range and is designed for image fusion with HUDs and MFDs to allow lower minimums.Beasley noted that CMC’s July 2002 acquisition of Flight Visions,  will broaden his company’s technology and market base. The Aurora, Ill.-based firm is involved largely with military customers, a market in which CMC now plans to expand. He added that Flight Visions has a relationship with Universal Avionics, which will lead to added commercial market opportunities.