When did the use of headsets come en vogue?

V

VA Aviator

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
133
Location
Virginia
Display Name
Display name:
VA Aviator
When I started flying (15 years ago), everyone wore headsets. However, one of the things I noticed but never really thought about until now is that a lot of the aircraft from the 1980s and older clearly weren't provisioned for headset use from the factory, as evidenced by the widespread presence of aftermarket PTT switches and phone/mic jacks positioned wherever happened to be convenient - not to mention the absence of information related to headset use in Pilot Operating Handbooks.

I do have recollection of a sightseeing flight I took around 1993? or so, and I seem to recall the pilot using a handheld microphone.
 
I have a handheld mic in the cirrus. I still can't fathom using it for anything other than trying to be funny.
 
I didn't use a headset until I started flying the Great Lakes and Decathalons in 1978. Still didn't wear one in regular GA airplanes until around 1985. Don
 
I also recall my dad (who last flew in the late 1970s) grumbling something about uphill both ways when I mentioned spending "real" money on my first headset.

I wonder what he would say if he knew what I paid for my Bose X when they were new :rofl:

It should also be noted that most conversations with him involve several requests for a repeat...
 
VA Aviator said:
When I started flying (15 years ago), everyone wore headsets. However, one of the things I noticed but never really thought about until now is that a lot of the aircraft from the 1980s and older clearly weren't provisioned for headset use from the factory, as evidenced by the widespread presence of aftermarket PTT switches and phone/mic jacks positioned wherever happened to be convenient - not to mention the absence of information related to headset use in Pilot Operating Handbooks.

I do have recollection of a sightseeing flight I took around 1993? or so, and I seem to recall the pilot using a handheld microphone.
Click to expand...
I did my private training in 1990 under the shelf of a Class B, except it wasn't called that back then, and I never used a headset until several years later. I did many flights into and out of B airspace on the handheld mic and speakers. I don't remember if others were using headsets or not. I finally got a hand-me-down when I did my instrument training around 1995. I still have that headset and use it every now and then.
 
Oh, and that and round engine airplanes, V-twin motorcycles and loud rock concerts led to wearing hearing aids now. Don
 
VA Aviator said:
When I started flying (15 years ago), everyone wore headsets. However, one of the things I noticed but never really thought about until now is that a lot of the aircraft from the 1980s and older clearly weren't provisioned for headset use from the factory, as evidenced by the widespread presence of aftermarket PTT switches and phone/mic jacks positioned wherever happened to be convenient - not to mention the absence of information related to headset use in Pilot Operating Handbooks.

I do have recollection of a sightseeing flight I took around 1993? or so, and I seem to recall the pilot using a handheld microphone.
Click to expand...
For me, it was when I went deft, and couldn't hear myself think with out the Bose stage 1s.
 
I began flying in 1972 & never wore a headset. It was hand mike & overhead speaker man. I flew professionally until about 1980 when I entered a career where I actually made money.

In 1991 I had a brain skip & bought an FBO. By this time, everyone insisted on headsets. Life flying was much better.

When I sold my FBO in 1994 I sold all equipment including headsets. When I bought an airplane recently I realized I needed headsets. When the headsets arrived via UPS my wife said reality hit her that we really were buying an airplane.
 
I started flying in the mid-1960s, and bought my first headset (actually just a Telex boom mic and single earplug gadget that clipped onto my eyeglasses frame - no noise canceling) in the mid-1980s. The Telex's only benefit was that it allowed hands-free communication with a push-to-talk switch that clamped to the yoke; any hearing protection it offered was insignificant.

Up until then, it was just a hand mic draped over the yoke, and the tinny, unreliable cabin speaker. It was not easy, instructing in noisy airplanes like the early American Yankees at KLGB, then the fourth-busiest airport in the country. The only time I ever used full headsets before the late 1980s was when operating the insanely-loud McCulloch J-2 Gyroplane.

I don't know why I should still have excellent hearing, but I am very grateful that I do.

In the early 1970s Cessna offered a factory-installed boom mic as an option. It was a microphone on a flexible stalk mounted near the upper corner of the windshield, wired to a push-to-talk switch on the yoke. Theoretically one could move the stalk to position the mic somewhere near the mouth, as long as the pilot's head didn't move. I bet in turbulence the boom mic would also meet up with eyes, nose and ears. Here again, the only benefit was hands-free operation, since you still had to use the cabin speaker.
 
Last edited:
Interesting thread. The first time I flew with a buddy that had headsets I didn't want to wear them. Seemed goofy to me and I wanted to hear the plane. Was back in about 1983. Of course now I have tinitus as bad as it gets and use Zulus and love them......
 
Learned late 70s. Headsets unheard of. Got my first Telex 5x5 ear bud style early 80s when started IFR. That was a godsend. First noise attenuating headset came mid-80s. First ANR came along late 90s when I got my Mooney.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I have a handheld mic in the cirrus. I still can't fathom using it for anything other than trying to be funny.
Click to expand...

Until my intercom went out I had no idea that the headset microphones only worked through the intercom. When it went t/u I was left with the mic. Not sure if all setups are the same, though.
 
New student of mine (has PP but hasn't flown in years) bought a Piper Arrow that we flew together for the first time yesterday. No intercom. Not set up for headsets. First time having to yell to communicate. Student had to use a hand mike for radio work... Noise cancelling headsets and intercoms. What great inventions.
 
When I started wearing DC's in the mid-80s, people were arguing that you couldn't hear the airplane with 'em on.

When noise cancelling came along, I was a bit of a late adopter...not because you can't hear the airplane with 'em on (amazing how the same arguments come back around), but because I don't like the constant sound pressure of the cancellation. That, and I started getting shocks on my ear just after V1 with a first-generation Bose one time. ;) I just wore earplugs under my DC's most of the time.

I happened to stumble across the Clarity Aloft booth at the AOPA convention a number of years ago...turns out an old boss of mine started the company. Anyway, tried 'em, love 'em, and haven't looked back.
 
I learned in the mid-70s and headsets were never mentioned, although I wore earplugs at my CFI's suggestion. I don't think I used a headset until I got a job a camera operator in a mapping airplane in 1979. I think it would have been impossible to communicate without a headset since the camera operator sat way in the back, but I heard stories from the old guys about them shouting back and forth.
 
I soloed with a hand-held mic back in 1985. In a year since I've started flying again I've gone through three headsets with an eye on a fourth. David Clark passive, then Faro noise cancelling, currently using Bose A20 but with the heat I'd like to try either Clarity Aloft or the Faro Air.
 
Yeah, this thread brings back memories! Learned to fly in 69 as a kid. Only headsets i saw were in the helmets of ag pilots! Instructor and i just yelled back and forth. AND we all smoked and used the built in ash trays. :eek: All considered, It was a better time.
 
Didn't have a radio or headset when I learned to fly in the Tiger Moth, sixty some years ago. Communication between the front seat occupant and the pilot in the rear seat was by means of Gosport tubes, which for the benefit of you young uns are just voice tubes! Unless the person in the front seat was a woman with a high pitched voice, throttle back to talk, which could cause some concern to first timers!
 
I grew up flying in a 172 without headsets. Never thought we needed them, they were for airline pilots! I moved away from home and decided to get my license. I went into a flight school to find out what it was going to cost. One of the things they told me was they had headsets for sale or I could rent one from them. I thought they were finding way to take more of my money... what a ripoff! When I started lessons and we used them, I realized it was much better than yelling at each other and now I have Bose headsets to preserve my hearing. I really hate it when I don't have them with me.

I have perfect hearing, but a lot of the guys I grew up flying with have a tough time now.
 
Headsets were well along the way in 1991 when I started flying, but lots of places still had hand mics for initial students and I flew about ten or so flights without one. It was a dollars game by then... "You'll buy one eventually or you'll go deaf..." And of course, back then the headset of choice was a DC headclamp. I still feel a warm fuzzy wearing the things, and they've survived from all the way back then, but they're spares nowadays and available in a box in the hangar for passengers. Once in a while I'll toss a pair on for pattern work, just to remember how they felt and sounded. Nostalgia mostly. But the nostalgia never extends to using the hand mic and speaker. It's just too loud.
 
I started in the early 70's, and we were using the handheld mike and overhead speaker. I think I bought my Dave Clark (still have it) late 70's? I don't recall it was remarkable by then. . .
 
Eh?
blog_trumpet-cover-audicus-hearing-aids.jpg
 
I took my first flight (at 5) in about 1970 in a 65 hp Aeronca Champ. I still remember how loud that thing was without any hearing protection.

In 1993, when I started my PPL, the instructor (an old WWII tank driver) didn't even mention headsets, even though I'm sure he wore them when he was flying his corporate gig. Later that year, I purchased my first airplane and my first set(s) of headphones, and was amazed at the difference.
 
Early 90s is when they starting popping up in droves. When I started in 87, it was still mikes and speakers. I remember thinking that headsets were insanely expensive for what they seemed to be...a pair of stereo headphones that you could get at Radio Shack for $19.

I even thought about building my own set, but I remember the plugs were also very expensive and hard to find.

By 1990, they were picking up steam and everyone seemed to be adopting them. Portable intercoms were pretty popular for upscale CFIs.

Richman
 
Richman67 said:
By 1990, they were picking up steam and everyone seemed to be adopting them. Portable intercoms were pretty popular for upscale CFIs.
Click to expand...

Interesting point. I remember a number of rentals in the 90s that didn't have intercoms in the panel. Most folks had a portable two place intercom in their flight bag as a standard accessory for those aircraft. I carried one for years. I didn't see it as something only high end CFIs owned. I needed it for my own use if anyone else was on board as a Private pilot.
 
Lowflynjack said:
I grew up flying in a 172 without headsets. Never thought we needed them, they were for airline pilots!

I have perfect hearing, but a lot of the guys I grew up flying with have a tough time now.
Click to expand...

Same way, learned how to fly in '74 and all my ratings, and check rides, no headsets. Might have wore some flying corporate but if I did it was rare. Airline job in '89 and we had 'em, still didn't wear them flying the Brasilia for 10 years and ATR72 for 2-3 years. If I did wear 'em the feds or company IPs were on the jumpseat. :D
Then when I started flying RJs (a lot quieter than TPs) we had to wear them. Think we could take 'em off at FL180, and I did.

Local airport rents an old C152 and a couple of C172s without mics onboard so you have to have a headset to fly them. So now you have all the cords all over the place, which might make for an interesting egress during an emergency.
 
When people noticed pilots started to say "WHAT?" a lot in conversations lol

I could fathom flying my utility interior 185 without my ANR.


Interesting side note, the reason on your first solo they cut your shirt tail off is because that's how the instructor used to let his student know he needed to tell him something, he'd reach up front and tug on the shirt tail, and a solo student no need for that shirt tail :)
 
The first N3N I flew had no electrical system and had a Gossport set up. It only went from the instructor to the student though because they figured the student would have nothing intelligent to say anyway. Had a cloth helmet with tubes to the ears like a stethiscope. Actually worked very well. Don
 
Trained initially in the late 80s and we didn't use headsets. They were for airline pilots and rich people.
 
LT4247 said:
Yeah, this thread brings back memories! Learned to fly in 69 as a kid. Only headsets i saw were in the helmets of ag pilots! Instructor and i just yelled back and forth. AND we all smoked and used the built in ash trays. :eek: All considered, It was a better time.
Click to expand...

Me too! Throttle, yoke, mic. Hold any two and hope for the best.

Cheers
 
I start flying in '87, did about 50 hours with a hand mic and speaker. Then switched instructors, my new instructor had a set of telex headsets, immediately purchased a headset and have been using them ever since. Still haven't quite been able to justify owning a set of noise canceling headsets, I am very hard on headsets switching aircraft sometimes several times per day, and tring to keep up on having good batteries seems to be a pain. On the other hand I really like like Zulu's and the Bluetooth features, but my DC 13.4's are nearly bulletproof.
 
It seems like the consensus is early 90s. I started training in 92, and a headset was definitely optional. No Internet to speak of then so my choices were sporty's or the fbo. I was a broke highschooler, so I invested in ear plugs. My instructor eventually convinced me to buy a headset I think before my first solo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top