Northwest Aerospace News June | July Issue No. 3 | Page 21

F
or more than 23 years, the name
Aviation Specialties Unlimited, Inc.
(ASU) has been synonymous with
night vision goggles (NVGs) and
nighttime operations. The Boise,
Idaho-based company was formed
with a mission to advance the safety
of nighttime flight operations through
the use of NVGs. With only one
employee, ASU began its mission
of advancing safety. ASU pioneered
the use of NVGs in civil aviation by
helping Mountain Area Medical Airlift
(MAMA) in Asheville, North Carolina,
gain Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) approval to use night vision
goggles. On Feb. 5, 1999, after two
years of work, MAMA made its first
NVG aided flight. Their FAA approv-
al allowed MAMA to use NVGs at
night for emergency medical services
and patient transportation in the Blue
Ridge Mountains, significantly im-
proving operational safety.
ASU’s President Jim Winkel, who at
the time was with another organiza-
tion, co-chaired the Radio Technical
Commission for Aeronautics’ Special
Committee (SC) 196 from 1999 to
2001. SC-196 published RTCA/DO-
275, the Minimum Operational Perfor-
mance Standards for Integrated Night
Vision Imaging System Equipment.
DO-275 has been used by the FAA,
the European Aviation Safety Agen-
cy (EASA) and other civil aviation
authorities to establish regulations for
the use of NVGs in the civilian market
and has recently been foundational in
the formulation of NVG TSO require-
ments. Since publication of DO-275
17 years ago, helicopter air ambu-
lances, law enforcement, search and
rescue, offshore drilling companies,
agriculture, aerial applicators and other
mission specific organizations are safer
because of ASU’s pioneering efforts.
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