In theory, borescopes are straightforward instruments. Using a combination of lenses, an eyepiece at one end, and some form of tube that can be inserted into tight spaces, "Borescopes allow users to look inside small, deep, or complex parts and assemblies without the need for costly and time-consuming engine tear down or other destructive testing," said Doug Kindred, president of Gradient Lens (www.gradientlens.com). "They can allow visual inspection of virtually any area not visible with the naked eye."

In reality, the world of borescopes is more complicated. The reason is due to modern technology. In addition to the traditional rigid-tubed borescopes in use for decades, aviation technicians can now choose between sophisticated fiberscopes and videoscopes.

A fiberscope is a borescope with a flexible sheath containing one bundle of fiber optics for illumination and another coherent fiber optic bundle for relaying the image back to the viewing lens, while allowing the tube to twist and turn as required to reach its desired destination.

Both rigid and flexible scopes can be used with a video camera, but a true videoscope takes things one step further; rather than using relay lenses or fiber optics to relay the image, videoscopes have a miniature CCD video camera attached directly to the borescope tip to send images back to a video display or computer.

Although the added versatility of a flexible scope can be useful, there is a steep price to pay. The scopes are typically about 10X to 20X lower resolution than a comparable rigid scope. A very high quality six millimeter flexible scope will have only about 25,000 pixel resolution whereas a comparable rigid scope will be able to resolve anywhere from 200,000 to 400,000 pixels. Rigid scopes definitely give you the best image quality for the money. Videoscopes offer great resolution like a rigid, but for a much higher price. Bottom line: if you need to go around a bend, buy a fiber- or videoscope; if you don't need to turn corners, buy a rigid.

Here is a look at some of the latest innovations in borescopes, on a vendor-by-vendor basis. Where made available, prices have been included.

Borescopes-R-Us Lives Up to Its Name

Resident on the web at www.borescopesrus.com, Borescopes-R-Us, in Clarksville, Tennessee, does its best to live up to its name. This is why the company sells a wide range of rigid borescopes, fiberscopes, and videoscopes, said company president Adrian Rodriguez. "We also repair all makes and models of borescopes to like-new condition or better, using the latest materials available."

Currently, Borescopes-R-Us's selection of new equipment includes two- to four-millimeter diameter fiberscopes up to 4.5 feet in length and six- to 12-millimeter videoscopes up to 30 feet long. "These scopes are aimed at all types of aircraft engines from piston to turboprops and turbines," said Rodriguez. "Our best sellers are the three- and four-millimeter fiberscopes used for Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6s and JTD15s and for GE CT7s."

Although Borescopes-R-Us will rent equipment, Rodriguez said, "at our prices it is more economical to buy a scope with short-term financing than rent and risk the liability of replacement cost. For instance, our PT6 fiberscopes starting at $2,995 meet or exceed Pratt & Whitney Canada specs, but are about a third of the price of other major manufacturers. Meanwhile, our rebuilt scopes starting at $3,295 cost about half what new equipment would cost."

Everest VIT Joining GE

GE Inspection Technologies announced that it is planning to buy borescope manufacturer Everest VIT (www.everestvit.com), pending regulatory approval. The addition of Everest VIT to GE Inspection Technologies adds visual inspection to GE's full repertoire of non-destructive inspection technologies.

Responding to a U.S. Air Force push to standardize videoscopes and reduce equipment inventories, Everest VIT has created the 6.2-millimeter diameter VideoProbe, a compact videoscope that not only shows what is rattling around loose inside an engine, but also has magnets and a three-prong grabber available for removing the offending item.

The 6.2-mm VideoProbe can also use tools made for the larger 7.3-millimeter VideoProbe, including large and small alligators, brushes, and snares. The 6.2-mm videoscope incorporates StereoProbe measurement technology, to allow accurate measurements to be made onscreen.

"The 6.2-mm diameter VideoProbe with an internal working channel is designed to get to those hard-to-reach areas without requiring costly disassembly," said Joe Lopez, Everest VIT's XL PRO VideoProbe product manager. "It allows inspectors to perform retrievals faster, easier, and more efficiently." The new 6.2-mm VideoProbe comes in both XL PRO and XL PRO Plus versions.

Gradient Lens Offers Borescopes For All Budgets and Applications

Hawkeye Precision Borescopes, manufactured and distributed by Gradient Lens (www.gradientlens.com) Corporation (GLC), have all the quality of German-made instruments at less than half the price. "The reason is GLC's patented endoGRINS gradient-index optics," said Doug Kindred, president of the Rochester, New York-based company. "All these scopes have a zero-degree direction-of-view and can look at a 90-degree direction of view with the Hawkeye mirror adaptor. Diameters range from 1.85 to 6.4 mm."

Hawkeye Blue Rigid borescopes contain German-made optics with built in prisms delivering superb image quality. Hawkeye Blues meet specialized visual inspection needs specified by various engine manufacturers and they are used for engine and airframe inspections.

Diameters range from one to eight millimeters, lengths up to 31 inches, and they offer a wide range of directions-of-view. Hawkeye Blues have a simple and elegant ergonomic design that allows easy one-handed focusing and rotating of the direction-of-view.

Gradient Lens's new line of Hawkeye Blue flexible borescopes are available in 2.5, 4.0, 6.0, and 8.0 mm diameters. Frequently used by both jet engine and helicopter technicians, Kindred said, "the all-new design includes a high-clarity fiber-optic bundle that delivers high resolution--7, 12, and 25K respectively--combined with excellent contrast." Meanwhile, Hawkeye Hardy rigid borescopes are often used to inspect piston-engine aircraft."

Prices for Hawkeye rigid precision borescopes start at $575, and the Hawkeye Flexible Borescope is priced at $1,875. Hawkeye Blue rigid borescopes start at $2,145, and Hawkeye Blue flexible borescopes begin at $8,795.

"Most users find it economical to purchase a complete borescope kit because of the inclusion of a light source and accessories," Kindred noted. "The Hawkeye Engine Inspection Kit is the most popular for aviation maintenance teams. It contains a Hawkeye Hardy 12-inch Borescope, 90-degree viewing adapter, and the super-bright, portable SuperNova light source, all contained in a rugged aluminum carrying case for $1,145."

Karl Storz's Videoscope Provides Laser Measurement on Demand

Billing it as the first remote visual inspection (RVI) system to incorporate on-demand laser measurement, Karl Storz (www.karlstorz.com) has just introduced the TechnoPack X. The TechnoPack X is a complete videoscope case-mounted system--big screen SVGA monitor included--that can be rolled directly to the worksite for immediate use.

Once the videoscope is deployed inside an engine and the image is on screen, the TechnoPack X's LaserTrue measurement system projects two lasers through the scope and onto the area being viewed. Because the default distance between the two lasers is pre-fixed, this provides an automatic sense of scale.

As well, actual distance can then be measured by moving one of the beams remotely, with the system's TechnoPack II computer automatically calculating the distance. These results are displayed on screen with the image, then recorded on the TechnoPack X's storage media (PCMCIA card or floppy disk) along with the acquired images for easy file transfer.

The TechnoPack II can accommodate a wide range of videoscopes. Add a CCD camera, and the system can also accept images shot through fiberscopes and rigid borescopes.

One nice touch is the TechnoPack II's Instant Recognition feature. It automatically identifies the specific videoscope or camera attached to the TechnoPack II and adjusts it for maximum image quality.

Lenox Instrument Goes Portable

One of the hard truths of the maintenance life is that working space is usually tight. Not just inside the aircraft section under repair, but outside as well. Mindful of this fact, Lenox Instrument (www.lenoxinst.com) offers a Portable Videoscope. For $3,995, the 10-pound Portable Videoscope is designed to work in the smallest of spaces and to be easily transported in a backpack or courier bag.

Functionally, the Portable Videoscope has a 26-mm CCD color camera combined with a light source; it is mounted at the end of a 60-foot cable (150-foot lengths are available). This fiber-optic cable is stiff enough to be hand-fed into engine compartments, but sufficiently flexible to wind up on a 20-inch reel. The video from the camera goes into the Portable Videoscope's handheld viewing unit with built-in LCD screen.

For extra flexibility, the Portable Videoscope can be fitted with a pan/tilt camera with built-in lighting, remotely controlled by a joystick on the handheld viewing unit. Both cameras can be fitted with "roller skate" bases to allow for easy movement inside horizontal spaces. The fixed camera is waterproof, while the pan/tilt camera is splash-proof.

Machida's Affordable Solution

With an eye on the budget-minded sector of the maintenance marketplace, Machida Borescopes (www.machidascope.com) has introduced a battery-powered flexible borescope, "one that delivers the same high-quality resolution as other Machida borescopes but at a lower cost," said Jitu Patel, vice president of Machida's industrial division.

Equipped with a 4-mm diameter flexible probe, "this borescope has a new and improved battery pack that provides as much light as a conventional AC light source," he said.

The Machida battery-powered borescope comes with a small light source and light-guide cable, a handle that contains the unit's battery, and a rugged Pelican case that carries it all. "Although this unit was originally designed for the helicopter engine market, we're selling it to a wide range of clients," said Patel.

Olympus's IPLEX SX Videoscope Choice of USAF Thunderbirds

If you want to inspect hard-to-reach places the way the USAF Thunderbirds do, then you will want to use Olympus's IPLEX SX Videoscope (iplex.olympusindustrial.com). The IPLEX SX is an all-in-one RVI unit that can provide 3D stereo viewing by using Olympus Eye-Trek 3D LCD glasses and it can be fully controlled using a single handheld remote control. The IPLEX SX comes with a 6.2-mm diameter camera with built-in LCD and lights. The unit's "Tough Tapered Flex" tube has been specially designed for use in aircraft engines. The IPLEX XS can be fitted with remotely controlled working tools, allowing technicians to easily retrieve loose parts or material from inside an engine. All of this packs into a single ruggedized, wheeled case for easy movement and deployment.

The IPLEX SX is one of three Olympus IPLEX units, all of which come with their own video monitors. The new IPLEX MX packs full videoscope capability into a toteable 10-pound box that can be powered by battery or AC. rvi.olympus-global.com/en/index.cfm

Titan Tool Supply Introduces the V Series

Titan Tool Supply (www.titantoolsupply.com) has introduced the V Series, a new line of portable videoscopes featuring a solid-state CCD camera and metal-halide lamp for bright, high-resolution images on an integrated LCD monitor. Titan said the V series scopes are equipped with a CompactFlash digital image storage card and USB port to make recording, transfer, and storage of images easy.

The V Series Videoscope system consists of a video borescope and the Titan VIH Pro video-imaging hub. The borescope is ergonomically designed for one-handed operation to reduce operator fatigue and is available in 6-mm and 8-mm diameter two-way, four-way, and non-articulating versions. Lengths range from 1.5 to 15 meters depending on the model. The imaging hub is portable and simple to use, has an integral LCD color monitor, headset, and microphone, 64MB CompactFlash memory card, and two-meter USB cable. Of the 22 models in the V Series, 21 are supplied with 58-degree and 90-degree field-of-view lenses.

Richard Wolf Borescopes/JME Technologies

As a distributor of Richard Wolf borescopes, JME Technologies (www.jmetechnologies.com) sells these products and solutions related to them. For instance, said Jerry Ewert, president and CEO of JME Technologies, "Our patented on-wing borescope-blending system actually repairs damaged blades on wing and allows longer engine life. This has saved our customers millions."

Meanwhile, he added, "Our new 6-mm blending borescope allows insertion to even smaller access ports for smaller engines previously unable to be blended. Our new 5.5-mm moveable prism power zoom scope allows full view of turbine blades with small access areas and with the powerful zoom feature allows a close-in look. "

SnakeEyeII: Aqua Communications

SnakeEyeII is a low-cost handheld RVI system with a modular design for easy configuration. It has an interchangeable camera head that can be attached to a rigid wand, a flexible gooseneck, extendable cables, or a ring finger attachment or borescope, and is constructed of high-impact plastic. The camera head is ruggedized and can be vertically articulated up to 90 degrees when used with the rigid wand. The display unit houses a high-resolution full color five-inch display and rechargeable battery pack and can output images to a VCR or computer.

BORESCOPE RESOURCES:

Borescopes-R-Us
Phone: 931-362-4009
Web: www.borescopesrus.com

EverestVIT/GEInspection Technologies
Phone: 973-448-0077
Web: www.everestvit.com, www.geinspectiontechnologies.com

Gradient Lens
Phone: 585-235-2620
www.gradientlens.com

Karl Storz
Phone: 310-410-5506
www.karlstorz.com

Lenox Instrument
Phone: 215-322-9990
www.lenoxinst.com

Machida Borescopes
Phone: 845-365-0600
Web: www.machidascope.com

Titan Tool Supply
Phone: 716-873-9907
www.titantoolsupply.com

Richard Wolf/JME Technologies:
Phone: 815-477-8800
www.jmetechnologies.com

Aqua Communications
Phone: 781-642-7088
www.snakeeye.com

Olympus Industrial America
866-629-2451
www.olympusindustrial.com