Student Pilot Equipment

[hangar7guy]

More advice

After way too many years of giving instruction to more students than I can even remember...just a couple of other bits of advice.

Make sure you buy your headset from someone with a liberal exchange policy. Why? Because you just might find that what felt good for the first ten or fifteen minutes turns out to be unbearably painful after a whole hour or more. Make sure you can return what you buy (in good condition, of course).

FWIW, I cannot wear *any* David Clark product. Not even the 13.4s. They drive me nuts. The only really comfortable over-the-ear headset I've found is the Lightspeed. But that's just me.

Another thing about Clarks that I don't like is that they are rarely compatible with other kinds of headsets on the same intercom. IOW, if you and your instructor both have Clark headsets, fine. But I have never been able to mix and match Clarks with some other kind of headset, including the Lightspeed; there's always a problem with the squelch and background noise. Every other brand seems to work fine, whether with my cheap FlightCom intercom or the more expensive Telex.

Otherwise, just KISS...keep it short and simple. Don't go overboard on gear.

Good luck!

"7"

 

[TDTURBO]

I'll second that again Hanger7!

I frequently fly from Chicago (IGQ) to Florida on 5-6hr trips IFR and NO WAY I could do that with DC's. Lightspeeds are the most comfortable and quite headsets on the market except for maybe the Bose. Also, the compatibilty issue of using DC's with any other set is well known. I think the days of green are coming to an end, just take a look at these articles on the subject.


http://www.avweb.com/articles/lits25xl/index.html

http://www.avweb.com/articles/lightspeedqfrxc/index.html

http://www.avweb.com/articles/litspeed/index.html

http://www.avweb.com/articles/litspeed/litspeed.html

http://www.avweb.com/articles/litspeed/litsptes.html

http://www.avweb.com/articles/litspeed/