I enrolled into flight school for the Spring semester and will be earning my private Cert. One of the required tools is a headset, what features should I be looking for and what is a comfortable brand. This headset will be with me all the way up to CFII hopefully into ATP as well, long story short I will be wearing them for a minimum of 1500hrs. Last thing I want to be worrying about is the band hurting the crown of my head when I need to be listening to my instructor. Any information and advice is greatly appreciated, thank you gentlemen!
First congrats on signing up to flight school. This hopefully will be the first step towards a very successful and rewarding career. Second, I need to correct you, while all Regional aircraft have company headsets onboard, after getting a look at some of your co-workers and their lack of proper hygiene, there’s a good chance you’ll be wearing that headset for ALOT more than just 1500hrs! Which is why my friend I STRONGLY recommend you invest in a Bose headset. While I no longer use mine for my airline flying (the Airbus is very quiet and we use single ear lightweight Telex units), I do still wear my for GA flying and it’s over 15yrs old. Bose are incredibly quiet, incredibly comfortable and durable. They also offer fantastic customer service. Several years ago mine did crap out but I was long past the 5 yr warranty. I sent them to Bose and not only did they repair them, they completely refurbished them (new leather ear seals, mike muff, and lambswool head pad) and charged me nothing, not even shipping. I know they’re pricey but they will provide you with years of great service.
When I started a couple years ago, I purchased a used David Clark headset for $200. It served me perfectly during flight training and I never had a complaint. But when I started flying more hours every day as an instructor, my head started to hurt from the clamping. At that point I decided to upgrade to a better headset and I bought the Bose A20 headset (no bluetooth), which solved the clamping issue and I am very happy with it. I even got $125 back when I traded in the old David Clarks (I actually bought it through that same online store). So I ended up only paying $75 for the DCs.
I am saying this because I know of some people that invested a ton of money in expensive flight gear before they even started, just to figure out that flying wasn’t for them. You can even check on eBay and see how many of the ‘Used’ headsets that are for sale are posted by these same people that rushed to gear up, flew a little bit, and figured that it’s not for them.
I know that Adam and Chris have different opinions on this matter, but that is my take on it. Hope it helps.
Thank you very much for your advice gentlemen. Adam, comfort is my number one factor for selecting a set and will happily pay the money for comfortability. Thank you again, sir I can’t wait to finally get behind the stick at a major.
Yarden, thank you for your advice as well. I have many hours of un-official flight time in a 172, I grew up with a (at the time Continental) United Captain as a father and have been deeply submerged into the aviation culture and am curtain that this is the lifestyle for me. Your advice has definitely helped me also. Thank you!