Warbird headsets

[stearmann4]

Huggy,

When I was starting out in aerobatics and brought up in warbirds, I was always drilled to wear a helmet for any aircraft I had the potential to bail out of. I've expanded that advice to wear a helmet in any aircraft where you've got a good chance of being incapacitated by the panel smacking you in the head (hampering my egress such as a Pitts).

That said, I've alway worn an HGU-55, but a Perrone Leather helmet (http://www.perroneapparel.com/store/main.htm )with a DC headset in the Stearman and PT-19. Perrone's quality far surpasses Flight Suits, LTD/Gibson & Barnes. I tried the ANR but it really doesn't do much in a wind swept cockpit.

However, I found a great solution. I'm sure you're familiar with CEPs (Communication Ear Protection http://www.cep-usa.com/ ) which are standard for most all military (helmet-ed) cockpits now. I contacted Ben Mozo, the owner when I was down at Ft Rucker, and he installs the CEPs in DC type headsets as well. It works great in the Stearman, T-6 and T-28. You just can't beat having the miniature speaker planted directly in your ear. I also had em' installed in my HGU-55 and wouldn't ever fly ithout them again. I've successfully recommended CEPs to a number of warbird pilots who had the onset of tinitus and were always tuning the radio up full volume then putting foam ear plugs in to deaden the sound just so they could hear all the radio calls. If ou get em' in you helmet, it does require a thicker ear cushion to allow some stand off for the insert, or it gets pushed against your ear by the cup. I bought mine through oregon Aero for $36. Gibson & Barnes also sells the CEP mod or your helmet, but it's about a 120% mark up over buying direct from CEP.

Lastly, it's about $130 ( a year or so ago), which beats any ANR set up.

Mike-

 

[VNugget]

VNugget, were you using the Flight Suit Ltd (now called Gibson & Barnes, or something like that?) cloth cap?
I wore one for an hour in a Great Lakes 2 days ago, with non-ANR DClarks. I really liked it.
Unless I find another company that makes a good cloth helmet, I'm thinking that I'm going to get one of these, with some DC 10-13X ANR's. $300 more than the 13.4's, so I need to mull that a bit.

The tag is gone (must have taken it off during the widening procedure) but I'm 99% sure it's a Flight Suits.

 

[Huggyu2]

Thank you for the additional info.
I flew on Saturday in the back of our SNJ, and coincidently, borrowed a friend's setup: Perrone cloth with DC ANR headset (he thinks they are 13X's). Our canopy is the type that can be opened from the back, and I flew the whole time with it open. Everything worked ok.
I'll checkout the CEP's: the USAF was supposed to get something like them years ago, and still hasn't.

 

[svcta]

I went out on a little trip this earlier this month and tried a new headset/helmet rig out. If any of you are considering a new headset purchase I highly recommend the Clarity Aloft set. I've used them in the T-6 and now for about 12 hours in the P-51 and they work great. Light, comfortable, and they are every bit as quiet as the ANR with no battery to worry about. I really liked the way that I could adjust my volume perfectly to suit my needs and protect my ears.

For use with a helmet in the Mustang I actually used a Chinese TK-1 helmet that I picked up for less than $70 bucks new. This goes nicely over the Clarity set which essentially become a CEP rig under the helmet. So, for less than half the price of a new G&B ANR helmet I have a CEP helmet that works great, and I don't think that there is a noisier cockpit than the Mustang.

 

[dustrpilot]

I fly a turbine powered spray plane 700-900 hrs a year. Its extremely noisy and I wouldn't consider anything without ANR. In the last 2 years I have even started using ear plugs as well as I have noticed some ringing in my ears.
When I had a Pitts I used the Perrone cloth helmet with David Clarkes and thought it was adequate, but would have liked to have worn a helmet with it, but it was just too restrictive in my plane.
Gibson and Barnes was the place to buy helmets, but I've heard of another company that sells the same helmet as GB and with an ANR is about 300.00 less than GB. Buddy of mine just bought one and he says its even lighter.
FWIW

 

[svcta]

I fly a turbine powered spray plane 700-900 hrs a year. Its extremely noisy and I wouldn't consider anything without ANR. In the last 2 years I have even started using ear plugs as well as I have noticed some ringing in my ears.
When I had a Pitts I used the Perrone cloth helmet with David Clarkes and thought it was adequate, but would have liked to have worn a helmet with it, but it was just too restrictive in my plane.
Gibson and Barnes was the place to buy helmets, but I've heard of another company that sells the same helmet as GB and with an ANR is about 300.00 less than GB. Buddy of mine just bought one and he says its even lighter.
FWIW

The cool thing about the Clarity Aloft is that they are earplugs. The attenuate every bit as well as earplugs (35-45 dB)but they have speakers in them. I find them to work very well and I can wear them all day in a jet or in a warbird. They weigh a couple of ounces and don't even mess up my swell hairdo.....unless there's a helmet involved.

 

[dustrpilot]

The cool thing about the Clarity Aloft is that they are earplugs. The attenuate every bit as well as earplugs (35-45 dB)but they have speakers in them. I find them to work very well and I can wear them all day in a jet or in a warbird. They weigh a couple of ounces and don't even mess up my swell hairdo.....unless there's a helmet involved.

Hmm, You can wear a helmet over the Clarity?

 

[svcta]

Absolutely. I gave it a shot on the ground and it was comfortable so I gave it a shot on my last road trip and there were no downsides. Your mileage may vary; my helmet is not a custom fit, but is comfortable. It never had coms in it so the earcups are soft foam covered with soft fabric, which really lent itself to my application. The Claritys go inside your ear and the wire to them is small and flexible so it always just got out of the way perfectly.

Two thumbs up!