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Customer Comments

“After a thoroughly enjoyable and informative information seminar hosted by Garmin and Maxcraft, we committed to upgrade our avionics to include the Garmin G500 system in our Cessna 172XP Hawk.  From the outset, every step of the process from estimate, to completion of the installation was outstanding.  Everyone at Maxcraft demonstrated superior levels of professionalism and technical expertise.  As Maxcraft promised, we are now experiencing the exciting new avionics capabilities of the Garmin G500 on our flights.  It is with great enthusiasm that we thank and pay special mention to Steve, Alex, Clark, Ben, Will and Ali for all of their hard work, knowledge and exemplary customer service.”

Cyrus Owner/Operator

of

Cyrus’s Marine Service

 Read about this project here

Avionic Humour

Flying is hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror.

Speed is life, altitude is life insurance.

Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.

It’s better to be down here wishing you were up there, than to be up there wishing you were down here.

One peek is worth a thousand instrument cross-checks.

Experience is a hard teacher. First comes the test, then the lesson.

Always remember you fly an airplane with your head, not your hands.

Never let an airplane take you somewhere you brain didn’t get to five minutes earlier.

If it’s red or dusty don’t touch it.

Hovering is for pilots who love to fly but have no place to go.

If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger, if you pull the stick back they get smaller.

If you’ve got time to spare, go by air.

Those who hoot with the owls by night, should not fly with the eagles by day.

Do you see that propeller? Well, everything behind it revolves around money.

Send us any of your comments and questions to:  maxnews@maxcraft.ca.

This year, two of Maxcraft’s major clients purchased Airbus EC135 helicopters.  Due to the  close working relationship between Maxcraft and these companies, as well as the increasing proliferation of these aircraft in general, two of our technicians were sent to an intense 10-day EC135 Avionics Systems Course offered by Airbus Helicopters in Grand Prairie, Texas. Overall the course addressed Avionics, Electrical Systems, Flight Control Display Systems, and Auto Flight Control Systems. The entire course was followed up by an exam and critique to make sure our technicians had full retention of the material covered.

This training anticipates the  maintenance and support needs of EC135 operators everywhere, and underpinnes our proactive commitment to staying abreast of emerging technologies, standards, and practices in commercial aviation. As Eurocopter sells more EC135’s, Maxcraft technicians are sure to be armed with the knowledge, training, and skills necessary to maintain and support them.

Here’s some feedback from one of our technicians:

” I found the course very worthwhile and there certainly was allot of information to digest. The hands on experience and simulator time was very useful,  and the instructor was super knowledgeable. 

They even gave us  homework at night! 

It taught me how the system works and with my troubleshooting skills I’m ready for anything the EC135 throws at me!”

A radio altimeter (RAD ALT) is an avionics system designed to accurately measure an aircraft’s height above terrain with a typical range of zero to 2500 feet.  This height data is displayed to the flight crew using either an analog indicator (older aircraft) or as a numerical “RA” display on a primary EFIS (newer aircraft). Pilots can select a “Decision Height” (DH) prior to descent which will trigger an alert (light, tone or voice call out) when the DH is reached.

Radio altimeters are often interfaced with other aircraft systems such as GPWS, TAWS, flight control computers and landing gear warning systems. Most radio altimeter systems have two antennas (one transmit and one receive) mounted on the lower fuselage. Some lower cost systems use a single combined transmit/receive antenna and are not capable of measuring altitude below about thirty feet. The better systems are accurate to about +/– 2 feet up to 100 feet and +/- 2% from 100 to 2500 feet. 

We have found that the newer generation of radio altimeter systems are much more reliable than the legacy systems dating from the 1970a and 1980s. Additionally, the newer systems will have additional outputs for easy interface with other aircraft systems.  Current manufacturers of radio altimeter systems include: Rockwell Collins, Honeywell, Freeflight and Garmin.