What headsets do you use when flying???

[Mustang]

David Clark H10-13XLs (ANR) here, with an Oregon Aero sheepskin headpad--indispensible for those of us who are "follicly-challenged". I fly for a living now, so ANR is a sanity saver as well as a fatigue fighter. I've flight-tested these against the Bose X and find the DC's ANR every bit as good. The main difference for most is comfort, for which the Bose generally wins, but I have the right sized melon for the DCs and don't find them uncomfortable at all.

Where the DCs win out is in durability and build quality. They are built like a tank, and after over 900 hours on them, the only problem I've had was a section of the cord between the battery box and the plugs go flaky earlier this year, and DC replaced the cord free of charge despite the heatset being 2 years out of warranty.

The DCs' lack of an auxiliary audio input is about the only shortcoming where I'm concerned, as being able to listen to music would make the long stretches of boredom pass more quickly. I've tried the simple audio adapters but the impedance mismatch requires an amplified audio source to be effective. Thus, my options are to pick up something like PS Enginnering's "The Muse", or switch to the DC X11 or Lightspeed Zulu.

Where CAP is concerned, however, I don't think I could justify the expense of a personal headset were I not a pilot; CAP is expensive enough as it is. I'd just buy a box of alcohol prep padsn keep a few packets in my flight gear, and clean the ones in the airplane before use.

[Al Sayre]

Sennheiser HME 110.  Got lucky at a going out of business sale and picked them up for $100.  Love 'em.  Good noise reduction, light weight and comfortable.  The David Clark's always give me a headache after a couple hours.  I've also got a couple of Warren Gregoire's that I use as loaners for Cadet O'rides, and other passengers that don't have their own.  They are a pretty good deal for ~ $70.00 a set.

[stratoflyer]

Avcom. Only advice I can offer is get gel inserts for the ears...otherwise after a few hours it starts to hurt.

[O-Rex]

Thus, my options are to pick up something like PS Enginnering's "The Muse", or switch to the DC X11 or Lightspeed Zulu.

Does anyone out there have a "Muse?"  If so, how's it working for you?

I saw one at my local FBO and was enticed, but with a sticker price of 2 benjies, it's not what I would call an impulse-buy.

[caprr275]

I currently use Flightcom 5DX
http://www.flightcom.net/headsets/5dx-headset.php

i am looking into getting something new but i think i will just wait untill im at a regional next year

[rightstuffpilot]

I wear the David Clark H20-10.  It is a "newer" model that is all composite.  By new, I mean I've had it for 5 years.  Sporty's want's $327.  I like it EXCEPT, it falls off my head all the time(particularly during head down moments like IFR short final).  I have it on the smallest notch.  DC does not make a pad to make it smaller because they told me they have 95% men purchasing the headset, making it not economical to cater to the 5% of women--not really the best answer.  I'd like to look into getting a Lightspeed Zulu some day when (if)I have money.

[Pumbaa]

I just received my AV-X's and it seems I will have the same problem as Heidi.  I have it on the smallest setting and it is just a few mm's too large.  I am going to add the sheepskin topper I am going to make and perhaps double it up to give me a bit more on top.

[es_g0d]

I have a set of Bose X, and an old Dave Clark H10-60 that I've had since I was a student pilot.  When it came time to buy another headset, I bought a Dave Clark 13.4.  Its tough as rocks, has a great warranty, won't run out of batteries, has great passive attenuation...  Its not as fancy as my Bose X, but I can throw it out the window into the float pond and after it dries out it will still work.
Good luck and good hunting,
-Scott
www.CAP-ES.net

[isuhawkeye]

David Clark 10-13.4

[Pumbaa]

We just had 2 pair of DC 10-20's donated to the squadron from a retired CFI.  our old headsets for O-Flights were getting beat to crap.

[Trung Si Ma]

Does anyone out there have a "Muse?"  If so, how's it working for you?

I have one and used it on all X-C flights until I bought my own plane and put a PS Engineering 8000B Audio Panel in it, which has the same capability in a front mounted plug.  My mechanic now has the Muse and he uses it a lot when ferrying aircraft.

The only down side of it is that there is a lot of cable hanging around when you use it with a Bose headset.

[FastAttack]

Bringing this back from the dead.. didn't want to start a new topic , as I need to get some feedback

My headset:

Anyhow I have a Lightspeed Zulu.. I tried both the Zulus and the Bose.. both performed really well , but i must say the Lightspeed felt more sturdy than the Bose.. 2nd I got sold on the Blue tooth feature of it.

I flew as a passenger on a Bonanza on a 3 hour flight and man o man was it great to be able to talk to on the phone and hear music via the bluetooth feature.

My first headset was a light speed 25XL as a student pilot and it was a great headset. I highly recommend Lightspeed's ANR headsets. Especially the Zulu.

Going to why i resurrected the topic.. I've noticed that all the CAP aircraft do not have extra headsets in them.
Now how do you handle O-rides if there are no headsets or if you decide to take other seniors up with you? .
Myself and the other pilot in our squadron are thinking of purchasing a "squadron" headsets but due to the limited funds of the squadron has we can't go out spending a lot of money in them.

I know that the word "cheap" and "reliable" shouldn't be mixed but in this case we want a mixture of both worlds.. what do you guys recommend?

thanks in advance.

[Short Field]

Ask for headset donations.  There are a lot of folks who have upgraded and still have their old sets. 

[EMT-83]

Now how do you handle O-rides if there are no headsets or if you decide to take other seniors up with you? 

Remember, according to the new 52-7...

"Orientation flights are available only to current CAP cadets under 18 years of age. Senior members are not authorized to participate in flights being conducted as Air Force-assigned missions unless they are serving as the pilot in command or escorting a cadet who requires special assistance."

[PHall]

Now how do you handle O-rides if there are no headsets or if you decide to take other seniors up with you? 

Remember, according to the new 52-7...

"Orientation flights are available only to current CAP cadets under 18 years of age. Senior members are not authorized to participate in flights being conducted as Air Force-assigned missions unless they are serving as the pilot in command or escorting a cadet who requires special assistance."

You might want to read the line you quoted a bit more closely...

[EMT-83]

I wasn't sure that I read it correctly, but thought that I'd mention the update.

[Al Sayre]

Bringing this back from the dead.. didn't want to start a new topic , as I need to get some feedback

My headset:

Anyhow I have a Lightspeed Zulu.. I tried both the Zulus and the Bose.. both performed really well , but i must say the Lightspeed felt more sturdy than the Bose.. 2nd I got sold on the Blue tooth feature of it.

I flew as a passenger on a Bonanza on a 3 hour flight and man o man was it great to be able to talk to on the phone and hear music via the bluetooth feature.

My first headset was a light speed 25XL as a student pilot and it was a great headset. I highly recommend Lightspeed's ANR headsets. Especially the Zulu.

Going to why i resurrected the topic.. I've noticed that all the CAP aircraft do not have extra headsets in them.
Now how do you handle O-rides if there are no headsets or if you decide to take other seniors up with you? .
Myself and the other pilot in our squadron are thinking of purchasing a "squadron" headsets but due to the limited funds of the squadron has we can't go out spending a lot of money in them.

I know that the word "cheap" and "reliable" shouldn't be mixed but in this case we want a mixture of both worlds.. what do you guys recommend?

thanks in advance.

Last year Wing bought some of these:  http://www.warrengregoire.com/aviation-headsets.htm They are cosmetic rejects for $69.95 each, 1 per aircraft.  They aren't fancy, but they are cheap, work fine and are reasonably comfortable for a 2-3 hour flight.  I own a pair myself that I use for passengers.   

[FastAttack]

Bringing this back from the dead.. didn't want to start a new topic , as I need to get some feedback

My headset:

Anyhow I have a Lightspeed Zulu.. I tried both the Zulus and the Bose.. both performed really well , but i must say the Lightspeed felt more sturdy than the Bose.. 2nd I got sold on the Blue tooth feature of it.

I flew as a passenger on a Bonanza on a 3 hour flight and man o man was it great to be able to talk to on the phone and hear music via the bluetooth feature.

My first headset was a light speed 25XL as a student pilot and it was a great headset. I highly recommend Lightspeed's ANR headsets. Especially the Zulu.

Going to why i resurrected the topic.. I've noticed that all the CAP aircraft do not have extra headsets in them.
Now how do you handle O-rides if there are no headsets or if you decide to take other seniors up with you? .
Myself and the other pilot in our squadron are thinking of purchasing a "squadron" headsets but due to the limited funds of the squadron has we can't go out spending a lot of money in them.

I know that the word "cheap" and "reliable" shouldn't be mixed but in this case we want a mixture of both worlds.. what do you guys recommend?

thanks in advance.

Last year Wing bought some of these:  http://www.warrengregoire.com/aviation-headsets.htm They are cosmetic rejects for $69.95 each, 1 per aircraft.  They aren't fancy, but they are cheap, work fine and are reasonably comfortable for a 2-3 hour flight.  I own a pair myself that I use for passengers.

thank you very much sir.
This will defintely work. most FBOs here in sfl the cheapest headset we could find was $150.00 we had 1 donation already we just needed 1 more headset.

[noturusernamebutmine]

Bose - absolutely love them.  I also have a pair of DCs H20-10 which are ANR/ENC which I used prior to buying my Bose.  The Bose are amazing - lightweight - great ANR - clear sounding - great mic.....though for the large price tag they are missing some features that should in my opinion be included (which is the selling point for the Zulu headset).  The DCs are great - though in comparison to Bose there is a huge difference.  Though if you can't afford the Bose (which I couldn't for the longest time) then the DCs are great headsets.  For me paying the extra $$ was sure worth it!  Protect your ears....you only have 2!

[Pumbaa]

I "loaned" 2 Dave Clarks to our Plane. Those were given to me by a retiring CFI. One of our pilots also "loaned" a couple of headsets a couple years back but those are getting a little long in the tooth.  That gives us 4 loaners.

I say "Loan" as it has become a PIA with inventory requirements when someone 'donates'.  We are placing little stickers on them saying "On Loan From...."

Now.. RANT ON!

I have my own set of ANC Headsets (Never Loan out) and also another personal set, which I was using as a loaner when not flying in our group aircraft, but after what happened this weekend, I no longer will loan out my personal set.

For folks borrowing stuff, it is a MAJOR sign of disrespect if you abuse the trust that someone puts in you when you borrow their equipment/ tools.  Thankfully my set was eventually found, but not after a lot of.. "go talk to" and they in turn would point back to the other person. 

So from now on if someone asks me for my personal set I will say: "Kish Mein Touchess"