An aircraft imaging apparatus includes a thermal imaging camera, a control circuit, an image generating circuit and a display. The thermal imaging camera includes an array of pixels and that senses thermal radiation within the scene. The a control circuit is programmed to: detect an area of high thermal energy within the image; define a region of interest having a predetermined number of pixels within the area of high thermal energy; determine an average temperature sensed by the predetermined number of pixels; and adjust each of the plurality of adjustable parameters to optimal settings corresponding to the average temperature. The image generating circuit is operationally coupled to the thermal imaging camera and generates image data corresponding to a portion of the scene so that the image data is based on the optimal settings for the plurality of adjustable parameters. The display displays the image data.