GPS/EFB and Headsets

[PF Flyer]

I'm starting to look for handheld GPS units and new headsets. What do you use and what would you buy?

[rosiejerryrosie]

I am getting good use out of an old Garmen 196. With the money I saved, I bought a Lightspeed headset that I love. They provide excellent customer support! However, if you have the $$, lots of folks are chosing the iPad route these days. Lotsa capability.

[MickYoumans]

For GPS I'm running WingX on an iPad 2 and love it. The only iPad drawback I see is readability in direct sunlight. I have a Cherokee which has a shady cockpit. For a bubble canopy plane I'm not sure how it would be.

[Joe Delene]

I have a panel mounted Garmin 696 & I am still satisfied with mid level David Clark headsets. If I fly a very long tome without talking I take the headset off & put in ear plugs.

[steve]

I've been using Clarity Aloft headsets for the last 5 years. Lightweight (a few ounces), comfortable and quiet. Not inexpensive at $500.

[Treetop_Flyer]

My wife and I have been using the Lightspeed Mach 1 with custom ear molds since 2007 and absolutely love the performance and comfort. Unfortunately...Lightspeed discontinued these in 2011. Clarity Aloft is similar but I didn't find theirs to be as comfortable as the Lightspeed. Since I haven't been looking recently, I'm not sure who is in the ITE headset market anymore.

[FlyingRon]

If you can wait until then, I'd recommend shopping at Airventure for the heasets. You can try a variety of them. There's a lot of personal fit and taste involved here. My wife loves her ClarityAlofts. They're nice but I'm not a big fan of the cram it in the ear feeling of them. I tried out just about everything available last summer (Lighspeed , Sennheiser, Beyers, Bose, etc...) before settling down on the Zulu2.

[Dave Prizio]

Good advice to check everything out at AirVenture if you aren't in a hurry. For my money I think the Lightspeed Zulus are the best. I have owned other Lightspeeds and Bose headsets, but I think the Zulus beat them all. The Lightspeed people are first class, too.

Dave Prizio

[WLIU]

What do you fly?

I will offer the perspective that I own 4 pairs of David Clark's, one Clarity Aloft, and my wife returned a set of Lightspeed's. When I was a full time prefessional aviator, I got started with David Clarks. They took all kinds of abuse, David Clark has a warranty policy that folks rave about, and 35 years later my original set is still going.

I put the Headsets inc ANR kit in two pairs of David Clarks. Works great. Nice people with goor support.

The Clarity Alofts work well in a really loud Pitts S-2A. Like wearing nothing. Worth the $$ if you wear a headset for hours every day. Good noise attenuation. Different noise attenuation than ANR's though. You hear a different mix of frequencies with the in-the-ear vs ANR.

The Lighspeeds did not strand up to an antique airplane with high speed wind noise from a leaky canopy. I think that they do OK in your average Cessna, but they did not work for us. Went back to David Clarks and added ANR later.

If you have friends that will elt you borrow their headsets, you can find out some of the pro's and cons before you spend $$. I will also suggest looking on eBay. You can find some good prices from folks who have decided that aviation has not held their interest and bowling requires less commitment.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[phip007]

For the money I like the Sigtronics S-58 for quality (better than military specs) and made in the USA.
http://www.sigtronics.com/air/index.html
As far as handheld GPS it's hard to beat for the money the touch screen IFly 700 and now the new version IFly 720 but more expensive. Simple, easy and very friendly.
http://ifly.adventurepilot.com/

[Jim Hardin]

For GPS, I don't see how the iFlyGPS from Air Adventure can be beat! - http://ifly.adventurepilot.com/

I have the 700 and the newer 720 is better yet.

I find the iPad too big for my use, whereas the iFlyGPS, is just right...

30 day no risk trial period... Can't beat it!

[Eric Page]

I'll add another vote for the Clarity Aloft headset. I've been using mine in an airlne flight deck, including in noisy turboprops, for about seven years and I love them. My first headset was a David Clark H10-80 with the Headsets, Inc. ANR upgrade kit. In my opinion, the Clarity Aloft is quieter, and it's massively more comfortable.

Pros:

Very small and light weight
Comfortable for long periods, especially on hot days
Extremely quiet (I typically set ship's volume at half what others use)
Auxiliary music input using standard 1/8" male-male stereo cable
Switch that puts ship audio in right ear only so you don't miss radio calls while listening to music
Doesn't use batteries
Cons:

Uses disposable foam ears plugs that must be replaced periodically
Be sure to take the time to adjust the stiff wire band that forms the headset's frame so that it fits your head. That, and getting used to the ear plugs are the only real comfort issues. Once it's adjusted and you're used to the plugs, you'll forget you're wearing it.

The foam ear plugs are an added expense, but so are batteries for an ANR headset. The ear plugs aren't really that expensive, and believe it or not, I've found that Clarity Aloft is usually the cheapest place to get them (they're used on some kinds of hearing aids and are widely available).

After about 5 years of airline (ab)use, my headset's earphone wires became frayed (be sure to pull the plug from your ear by grasping the earphone housing, not the wire). I sent it back to Clarity Aloft for service, and they found that the mic boom was also in rough shape. They trashed my headset and sent me a replacement at no charge. It's been working perfectly since.

If my headset were stolen or lost, I would definitely buy another one.

[Tony_Fletcher]

Another great option for an "in the ear" headset is the HALO from Quiet Technologies. http://www.quiettechnologies.com/

I have a pair, as well as the Lightspeed Zulu1 and they both are great. When I have a passenger, I give them the Zulu and I use the HALOs.

[Bill Greenwood]

Mostly over the years I have used David Clark in some very noisy cockpits like a T-6, and mine has the noise cancelling addition by HEADSET INC. in Amarillo. It is fairly good but not perfect.
DC sets are very well made and they have or used to have excellent product support and customer service. Aviation Consumer does not rate the newer DC noise cancelling headsets as all that good.
The DC does have good static noise protection, not counting the noise cancellilng.

I also have 2 of the new Bose $1000 noise canceling ones. They are more comfortable, and the noise canceling is good, but when the electronics are off they have poor static ear protection.

I have once or twice used the Lightspeed ,and they seem ok, not great, but much cheaper than Bose.

[mjkahn]

I'm not sure if they are still running it, but Lightspeed had a trade in program for the Lightspeed Zulu 2 which I took advantage of a few months ago. I absolutely enjoy these headsets. I'm using an iPad with Foreflight and it works great, not only for GPS, but also for flight planing, filing, and weather (Foreflight also works on the iPhone, so that is a backup and I'm forever checking weather on it). There is also a new device available from Sporty's that users ADS B in for weather updates every few minutes and overlays it on the Foreflight charts using bluetooth.