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What headsets do you prefer to wear when flying?

Started by GodAtum, Thu, 16 May 2019 21:50

GodAtum

Watching the Easyjet show on ITV and noticed the pilots all have different headsets. Some wear the over-ear Bose, some small in-ear ones and others the on-ear Telex ones. I find the over-ear quite bulky and the press against my glasses too much. If you could fly for real, what headset would you use?


skelsey

Personally (at least when flying my desk!) I have always much preferred the open-backed Telex style cans for exactly the same reason as you (I find the closed cans somewhat on the heavy side, uncomfortable with my glasses and I feel too 'sealed off' from the outside world).

At work we have Sennheiser HMEC closed on-ear (they don't go over the whole ear but they are not open-backed style cans like the Telex Airman) headsets very similar if not identical to those used as standard issue in some airlines and I cannot stand them - they weigh a ton, the cables are heavy and pull the headset unnaturally, they are prone to breakage, they're particularly uncomfortable as a glasses- wearer and if you wear both ears you can forget conversing with anybody sat either side of you or indeed being able to hear and keep up with anything which is going on around you.

Other than that they're great  :D

Having said the above, obviously for real flying especially for professionals doing it day in, day out, a decent set of noise-cancelling cans is a very good idea from a hearing protection point of view and I can understand the attraction of full closed-back over-ear designs for that reason. In light aircraft I have had the opportunity to play with a set of Bose A20s and I was very impressed with both the wearability and the effect of the active noise cancelling. The price, however, is somewhat eye-watering!

emerydc8

The Telex headsets that come with the ship should be used. A lot of guys have really expensive headsets and are pretty proud of them, but they're not matched with the rest of the ship's headsets and often I can't hear what they're saying when they transmit. Plus, most of the newer pilots came from the regionals where they apparently used hot mics full-time. The 767 wasn't designed to do that, so it leaves the IRP or check airman out of the loop because they can't hear a word they're saying. This was an issue of discussion at a check airman meeting yesterday and it's going to stop. No matter how expensive your headset is, or how awesome it worked on another aircraft, if the other guys in the cockpit can't hear what you're transmitting it's no good.

Hardy Heinlin

What is a "hot mic"? Is it an audio system that uses noise gates? You mean their noise gate threshold is set too high so that their audio output is muted when they are speaking at a volume level below that threshold?

When I used such systems, many years ago, I always made a click noise with my tongue before speaking. That opened the gate clearly and assured that the first vowel in my sentence wasn't muted :-)

So you may hear ...

Click-flapsfive

... instead of ...

Psfive


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GodAtum

Do you still need noise cancelling in a big jet, as it's not as noisy as a heli or prop?

G-CIVA

Quote from: Hardy Heinlin on Fri, 17 May 2019 14:46
What is a "hot mic"?

Its a saying for a mic that is permanently 'live' - its also used to let call signs on a radio frequency know that somebody is permanently transmitting - through a 'stuck' 'pressel switch' or 'transmit switch'.

As in 'All stations be advised somebody has a hot mic'

In Jon's example a 'hot mic' would be live permanently over the internal flight deck intercom I suspect.

Some very amusing traffic can often be heard this way, or alternatively critical information cannot be passed since the channel is blocked.
Steve Bell
aka The CC

Hardy Heinlin

At first I thought so, too. But then I didn't understand why they can't hear anything if the mic is always on:

Quote... used hot mics full-time. The 767 wasn't designed to do that, so it leaves the IRP or check airman out of the loop because they can't hear a word "they" are saying.

Are "they" those who talk into a hot mic, or are "they" those who can't hear "their" own word because "they" are forced to listen to someone else who's continuously talking into a hot mic?

:-)

Or is it a one-way system where only one person can talk at a time by pushing a switch, and that person talks too much?

G-CIVA

Quote from: Hardy Heinlin on Sat, 18 May 2019 01:30
At first I thought so, too. But then I didn't understand why they can't hear anything if the mic is always on:

Are "they" those who talk into a hot mic, or are "they" those who can't hear "their" own word because "they" are forced to listen to someone else who's continuously talking into a hot mic?


All of the above I guess ... I would venture that the new headsets cannot operate correctly or interface correctly with the older ACPs fitted to the 767s.
Steve Bell
aka The CC

John H Watson

Quote from: GodAtumDo you still need noise cancelling in a big jet, as it's not as noisy as a heli or prop?

On the 744, yes. The air reaches the speed of sound (or close enough thereto) as it flows over the fuselage hump. The 744ERs have an extra layer of plexiglass on the side windows. On the 767, you probably need it simply for the noisy equipment cooling  :o

Quote from: EmeryDCPlus, most of the newer pilots came from the regionals where they apparently used hot mics full-time. The 767 wasn't designed to do that, so it leaves the IRP or check airman out of the loop because they can't hear a word they're saying.

It's compulsory for the mics to be hot these days for voice recorder/hijacking purposes. However, without keying the mic, the mic audio shouldn't go to anywhere other than the CVR. I don't know how these regional boomsets do the keying when fitted to the 767 or 744.  Keylines don't even go through the boomset jack panels.

emerydc8

By "hot mic," I mean that the interphone between the two pilots is always on (hot), so you can talk and hear the other pilot over the headsets, but you will also hear more background noise because you are listening to the sound that the boom mics pick up. And if there's an IRP he won't hear the conversation at all.


DougSnow

I use a telex airman 750 when I am doing my ops rides, at work our ship's headsets are Telex 850s. I know whats in my hair. One time a long time ago I was riding JS on a UA 737 and the ear cushions on the ship's headset were smothered in either afrosheen or brylcream. There wasn't enough sanicom wipes to get them clean and even after wiping and letting it dry, there was still a film of something.

I've carried a telex headset since that flight. Most of our crews will use Bose Noise cancelling - and if I flew for my work I probably would too - but my tinnitus is bad enough no Bose will help now :)

Hardy Heinlin

I'm overly curious today. What is an "IRP"?

Quote from: DougSnow on Sat, 18 May 2019 14:41
... the ear cushions on the ship's headset were smothered in either afrosheen or brylcream. There wasn't enough sanicom wipes to get them clean ...

Ha! :-)

DougSnow

IRP - International Relief Pilot, the 3rd pilot dozing for dollars...

Hardy Heinlin

Are there also non-international relief pilots?

DougSnow

Under US domestic rules, the flight time limits were based on 2 pilots to a max of 8 flight hours, before FAR 117 came into being. Internationally, I'm not sure what the FAA's rules are, but under our pilot contract, international legs up to I think 12+30 long have 3 pilots (1 bunkie dozing for dollars), and flights over 12+31 get 4 pilots. 


John H Watson

QuoteBy "hot mic," I mean that the interphone between the two pilots is always on (hot), so you can talk and hear the other pilot over the headsets, 

I still can't see how this is possible on the 767. On the 744, the control column INT switch had a locking mechanism, but not the 767.

emerydc8

QuoteI still can't see how this is possible on the 767. On the 744, the control column INT switch had a locking mechanism, but not the 767.

Some of our 767s have the control column locking mechanism.

QuoteAre there also non-international relief pilots?

Our contract has a duty time limit of 14 hours for a two-pilot crew, which the crew could waive and go up to 16 hours. Last year, I made the mistake of informing scheduling that I would not be doing an assigned 15-hour duty day from ATL-CVG (sit there for 6 hours), then DFW-ELP. Despite the objections of the Chief Pilot and 767 Fleet Standards Captain, scheduling threw an extra crewmember (Domestic Relief Pilot?) on the flight starting in ATL and argued they were in compliance with the contract. Guys had to start calling  in fatigued in order to get them to stop scheduling it like this. This was the first use of a Domestic Relief Pilot I had ever seen -- And hopefully the last.


RRVyper

Quote from: Hardy Heinlin on Fri, 17 May 2019 14:46
What is a "hot mic"? Is it an audio system that uses noise gates? You mean their noise gate threshold is set too high so that their audio output is muted when they are speaking at a volume level below that threshold?

When I used such systems, many years ago, I always made a click noise with my tongue before speaking. That opened the gate clearly and assured that the first vowel in my sentence wasn't muted :-)

So you may hear ...

Click-flapsfive

... instead of ...

Psfive


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I think you are referring to a VOX system (voice operated transmit) where you can set the sensitivity using a little volume knob. It prevented having to key the mic but caused the issue you solved with your tongue-click.  :)

Hardy Heinlin

No, the noise gate is just in the pilot-to-pilot channel. I used these systems when I flew little Cessnas in the USA because they were built in. The gate wasn't in the ATC transmission channel. There is no automatic transmission.


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