The A30 launch was a hard secret to keep. It wasn’t the first new product announcement the company has made in 13 years, and even before I got the inside scoop from Bose, I’d predicted that we’d see a successor to the A20 at Sun ‘n Fun. (It was an impressive prediction; just don’t ask to see my March Madness debacle of a bracket.)

It seems that the A20 was around forever, and 13 years is a good stretch in an aviation marketplace where new headsets appeared from Bose’s competitors far more frequently. The extended reign of the A20 made sense, though. When it hit the airways in 2010, it  immediately displaced the company’s Aviation Headset X as the headset to have in your flight bag. Rightly so. The A20 was a far better headset than the X in just about every way. It was more comfortable, had better passive and active noise reduction, and added features like Bluetooth wireless connectivity. If you were flying with Bose Aviation Headset X’s, you just had to get the A20s. And while Bose improved the A20 incrementally over that time, the bones of the product were great from the get-go. I have worn the A20 for around 1,000 hours in loud single-engine airplanes. It’s a great product.

I know that one big criticism we’ll hear early and often on the A30 is that it’s just a warmed-over A20, and I get it. It looks very similar, it does the same kinds of things, there are no fancy features, just the usual ones, beautifully implemented as they are on the A20. So, should you replace your A20s with A30s? I don’t think anyone needs to. But believe me, people will want to. And once they slide one on, they’ll really want to.  

Features
What is the killer feature on the A30? Nothing. But at the same time, everything. And Bose knew it would be a challenge to update the A20, and to its everlasting credit, it didn’t try to make a whole new headset but, wisely, a whole better headset.

This they did not by focusing on one feature but on all of them, seriously. When you look at the A30, even when you put your hands on one, you’ll wonder how it’s different from the A20 at all. The answer is, it’s different in just about every conceivable way. And better, too.

That said, some of the improvements are specific to certain needs that not everyone will have. The top feature, though—improved comfort over an already supremely comfortable headset—will be one that just about every pilot will love. This they accomplished while still keeping the A30 very slightly lighter than the A20. At the same time, they somehow managed to make it feel, well, not heavier, but more secure. One of the most important tests of any aviation headset is comfort, and for those of us who have been flying small planes for a while have had the unpleasant pain of wearing early-tech noise cancelling headsets on a long day’s flight. The A20s are the most comfortable headset I’ve ever worn for multiple-leg cross countries, and so far, the A30 feels even better. Beta testers tell Bose that they are having the same early impression.

Noise-wise, the A30 is different, and in ways that might or might not benefit you directly. There are three levels of noise cancelling in the new digital chipset that Bose uses—low, medium and high—though pilots of small, single-engine planes will most likely keep it parked on the high setting, which is even more effective than its impressive predecessor at blocking unwanted audio intrusions through the magic of active noise reduction. Unlike the A20, for which Bose’s senior product manager Matt Ruhe used analog circuitry, the A30 is a digital headset, which allowed Bose to target noise more specifically than the A20 can.

The A30’s mic is totally different than the A20’s, and it, too, is an improvement, with better intelligibility and ease of use. Despite the move to a digital design, the A30 keeps the warmth of the sound of the A20, which also helps with fatigue. Another quality-of-life improvement is the new cord, which is better, lighter, more flexible and less noticeable.

Other features that you might or might not use are tool-less interchangeable cord attachment, so you can mount it on the side closest to the jack, and a tap-to-talk feature that lets you make the noise cancelling transparent for easier conversations inside or outside of the cockpit.

The bottom line is, the $1,295 Bose A30 aviation headset is a step up in comfort, utility and features, and while it lacks the bells and whistles of some of its competitors’ premium headsets, it is everything, at least in our book, that a headset should be and nothing that it shouldn’t. The A30 is available now from your favorite pilot supply outlet.

The post Bose’s A30 Headset Shows Off New Design appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

The A30 launch was a hard secret to keep. It wasn’t the first new product announcement the company has made in 13 years, and even before I got the inside scoop from Bose, I’d predicted that we’d see a successor to the A20 at Sun ‘n Fun. (It was an impressive prediction; just don’t ask to see my March Madness debacle of a bracket.)

It seems that the A20 was around forever, and 13 years is a good stretch in an aviation marketplace where new headsets appeared from Bose’s competitors far more frequently. The extended reign of the A20 made sense, though. When it hit the airways in 2010, it  immediately displaced the company’s Aviation Headset X as the headset to have in your flight bag. Rightly so. The A20 was a far better headset than the X in just about every way. It was more comfortable, had better passive and active noise reduction, and added features like Bluetooth wireless connectivity. If you were flying with Bose Aviation Headset X’s, you just had to get the A20s. And while Bose improved the A20 incrementally over that time, the bones of the product were great from the get-go. I have worn the A20 for around 1,000 hours in loud single-engine airplanes. It’s a great product.

I know that one big criticism we’ll hear early and often on the A30 is that it’s just a warmed-over A20, and I get it. It looks very similar, it does the same kinds of things, there are no fancy features, just the usual ones, beautifully implemented as they are on the A20. So, should you replace your A20s with A30s? I don’t think anyone needs to. But believe me, people will want to. And once they slide one on, they’ll really want to.  

Features
What is the killer feature on the A30? Nothing. But at the same time, everything. And Bose knew it would be a challenge to update the A20, and to its everlasting credit, it didn’t try to make a whole new headset but, wisely, a whole better headset.

This they did not by focusing on one feature but on all of them, seriously. When you look at the A30, even when you put your hands on one, you’ll wonder how it’s different from the A20 at all. The answer is, it’s different in just about every conceivable way. And better, too.

That said, some of the improvements are specific to certain needs that not everyone will have. The top feature, though—improved comfort over an already supremely comfortable headset—will be one that just about every pilot will love. This they accomplished while still keeping the A30 very slightly lighter than the A20. At the same time, they somehow managed to make it feel, well, not heavier, but more secure. One of the most important tests of any aviation headset is comfort, and for those of us who have been flying small planes for a while have had the unpleasant pain of wearing early-tech noise cancelling headsets on a long day’s flight. The A20s are the most comfortable headset I’ve ever worn for multiple-leg cross countries, and so far, the A30 feels even better. Beta testers tell Bose that they are having the same early impression.

Noise-wise, the A30 is different, and in ways that might or might not benefit you directly. There are three levels of noise cancelling in the new digital chipset that Bose uses—low, medium and high—though pilots of small, single-engine planes will most likely keep it parked on the high setting, which is even more effective than its impressive predecessor at blocking unwanted audio intrusions through the magic of active noise reduction. Unlike the A20, for which Bose’s senior product manager Matt Ruhe used analog circuitry, the A30 is a digital headset, which allowed Bose to target noise more specifically than the A20 can.

The A30’s mic is totally different than the A20’s, and it, too, is an improvement, with better intelligibility and ease of use. Despite the move to a digital design, the A30 keeps the warmth of the sound of the A20, which also helps with fatigue. Another quality-of-life improvement is the new cord, which is better, lighter, more flexible and less noticeable.

Other features that you might or might not use are tool-less interchangeable cord attachment, so you can mount it on the side closest to the jack, and a tap-to-talk feature that lets you make the noise cancelling transparent for easier conversations inside or outside of the cockpit.

The bottom line is, the $1,295 Bose A30 aviation headset is a step up in comfort, utility and features, and while it lacks the bells and whistles of some of its competitors’ premium headsets, it is everything, at least in our book, that a headset should be and nothing that it shouldn’t. The A30 is available now from your favorite pilot supply outlet.

The post Bose Launches A30 Aviation Headset appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

The most noteworthy feature is a built-in carbon monoxide detector, which will give pilots (and/or passengers) audible alerts through the headset if the CO levels get to concerning levels, at which point it will issue audible alerts to the wearer. The feature, called Kanari, is active any time the headset is turned on, so there are no user steps required to activate or use it. Lightspeed says the built-in detector has a life of around 10 years. The part is factory replaceable, too, so the headset can live on after that time. 

And another first-of-its-kind feature is a hearing impairment accommodation feature that Lightspeed calls HearingEQity. According to Lightspeed, the utility uses an in-app (available in the Apple App store or for Android phones, too,) that gives a simple hearing test to the wearer and then, based on those results, modifies the output of the headset to accommodate the hearing needs of the wearer.

Another novel feature is the battery pack, which can be either a lithium-ion pack, rechargeable and rechargeable while using it, or conventional double-A batteries, so there’s no excuse for running out of charge. Several cable options are available for ship’s power or battery power, and the headset is the first we know of to include a UAC jack, allowing users to connect any manner of devices, and the company offers a variety of options for this feature, too, including USB-C and even Apple’s Lightning cable—details on cost and configuration can be found at the company’s website.

Comfort wise, the Delta Zulu is a premium fit, and we found the noise attenuation, both passive and active, to be very, very good, with terrific sound quality, as well, a key for pilots who like to listen to music while they fly and certainly for passengers who will doubtless have their Delta Zulu connected via Bluetooth to their personal devices.

The new model, which becomes the company’s premier offering, goes for $1,099. The Zulu 3, an active noise-cancelling headset we love, will continue to be offered, as well.  

The post New Headset from Lightspeed, the Delta Zulu appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Here’s a short list of eight of the most important aviation technologies in the history of flying, and you might be surprised how early some of them were introduced. 

Radio Communications

There is no shortage of miracle technologies we pilots take for granted. I’d argue that near the top of the list should be in-flight radio communications. Most pilots think that radios have been around forever, and they’re not far from being right about that. You won’t find any photos of Orville sending reports to Wilbur from the Wright Flyer; it was just over a decade that the first successful air-to-ground radio call was made, when, in 1915, Captain J.M. Furnival picked up a transmission from the ground sent by a Major Prince (first name unknown), who radioed the message, “If you can hear me now, it will be the first time speech has ever been communicated to an aeroplane in flight.” It’s a little meta for our tastes—we prefer “Watson, come here, I need you.” But it was a start.

By the early 1930s, radios, which, like a few other aviation technologies, seemed to mature in lockstep with aviation’s progress, were small, light and reliable enough to have even in small planes. And around that time, the International Commission for Aerial Navigation had formed, in part to avoid a Babel-like world of communications, putting forth the first standards for aerial radio communications.

Where this technology led is familiar to nearly every pilot. Today, we can communicate air-to-ground, ground-to-air and air-to-air with ease, usually with excellent voice fidelity even from great distances. The benefits of this technology are too numerous and obvious for us to list here but, suffice it to say, it’s hard to image a modern world of aviation without pilots and controllers playing together.

Handheld Radios For Pilots

Instrument Landing System

The instrument landing system is a presumptuous, even boastful name. Even when it was introduced, it was hardly the first or the only system for helping an airplane find the airport in conditions of low visibility through the use of instruments. But just as no one complained when Muhammad Ali called himself “The Greatest,” because he so clearly was, the same was true for ILS. Whereas a VOR approach could get you within shouting distance of the final approach fix (with the help of a stopwatch, a guess at the winds and, if you were lucky, an intersecting radial), an ILS provided the whole shebang, with lateral and vertical guidance, and it did it with such precision that most ILSes got you down to 200 feet AGL. True, it required a lot of infrastructure, but it created a high-precision landing system at a time when the technologies that air navigation architects could leverage were rudimentary. They were essentially nav radio signals arrayed vertically (the glideslope) and laterally (the localizer component) with an instrument in the airplane to keep track of each. While flying an ILS takes practice and requires skills that don’t come naturally to many pilots—staying on the glideslope is as much an art as a science—it’s a self-contained system that makes the VOR approach look positively primitive.

Sure, precision RNAV approaches are better in a few important ways, but ILS was the undisputed champ of instrument flying for more than 50 years. And with it in wide use still, even for automatic landings, few expect it to go away any time soon.

GPS

The development by the United States Department of Defense of the Global Positioning System (GPS) was a watershed in area navigation, though it wasn’t the first such system. Before civil-use GPS came along in the late 1980s, there were already a few area navigation systems, though few ever made their way into the flight decks of small planes.

There are area navigation systems that calculate position based on the relative positions of radio navaids and DME—they were extremely accurate. Bendix-King’s KNS-80 navigation receiver was a modestly popular product and can still be found in the panel of some small planes, though, in our experience, they are seldom put to use.

There are also inertial systems that use sophisticated (and enormously expensive) combinations of gyroscopes and/or lasers or solid-state gyros along with magnetometers and other aids to calculate position based on rates of rotation. The science behind these various systems is complex, but their operation is fairly simple. And like sophisticated area nav units, inertial systems are very accurate. Moreover, they don’t rely on navaids or satellites to work. They are entirely self-contained. Not surprisingly, these kinds of systems were widely adopted by large commercial, military and private users.

Another system, Loran, developed during World War II, used very low-frequency radio waves bounced off the atmosphere. In its initial iteration, Loran was accurate to 100 meters or so, but in its later form, Loran-C, which came to the fore in the 1970s, it was accurate to tens of meters or better. And because the revolution in electronics enabled far cheaper, smaller and lighter receivers, Loran looked like the wave of the future. Instead, it was shut down around 25 years after it began to gain popularity with pilots of light planes.

The reason? The DoD’s Global Positioning System. GPS makes use of a known constellation of satellites to determine very precise points of location on the earth and in the atmosphere. As its name says, it really is a global system, too. When paired with a database, a GPS receiver can provide extremely accurate guidance from point to point. And when aided by additional ground and space-based systems to enhance accuracy, GPS receivers can provide pinpoint location capability, allowing approach courses with none of the angular uncertainty or radio infidelity that even ILS systems are liable to suffer.

While ubiquitous, GPS has its weaknesses. Because its signal is very low power, it can be jammed quite easily, and because it relies on satellites and associated systems, it is staggeringly expensive to field and maintain. But the impact it has had on aviation is unparalleled. And that impact pales in comparison to the beneficial impact it has had on our lives in thousands of other areas of life.

Moving Map Navigation

The idea of an electronic moving map that knows our precise position in the air and can keep track of and display an ever-changing picture of the world below is a fantasy that every pilot who ever struggled with folding paper charts entertained often. And when a few enabling technologies—GPS, low-cost displays and high-powered small processors—came along, the moving map was born. The moving map revolution, which is sometimes erroneously dismissed as an accessory to aviation, has been foundational to the advancement of situational awareness and the elimination of one of the deadliest types of crashes, controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), where an aircraft is flown by its crew into the ground by mistake. CFIT crashes are almost always catastrophic. With moving map, you get automatic situational awareness in four dimensions (time being the fourth), graphical and dynamic mapping of weather systems, airway and airport data, and so much more. Those who grew up with moving map applications are sometimes derided as “children of the magenta,” a phrase that refers to the magenta-colored course line on moving maps. I’d argue that proponents of moving maps’ benefits are merely taking advantage of far superior technologies to keep themselves and their passengers safe from situational awareness errors that were commonplace before moving maps came along. 

Today’s Electronic Flight Displays

Weather Intelligence

There is no shortage of things for pilots to be concerned about, and at or near the top of the list are a handful of serious weather phenomena. There’s inflight icing, fog, high winds, turbulence, mountain wave and garden-variety cloud obstruction, to name most of the biggies. But by far, the most hazardous weather phenomenon is convective activity, which most often manifests itself as thunderstorms, which can grow in size to otherworldly proportions and pack a punch so big it can take a small or not-so-small airplane apart.

The development of weather-gathering technologies has progressed steadily since before the advent of powered flight, but without much debate, the most significant has been the development of next-generation weather radar, which in the United States is known as NexRad. Introduced in 1988, NexRad is a powerful doppler radar that can sensitively detect storm shape, intensity, movement, convective activity and precipitation. The network of 160 radar sites in the United States provides a coast-to-coast system of weather surveillance. It is one of the crown jewels of U.S. technological achievement, providing life-saving early warnings of severe thunderstorms, tornados and hurricanes. The continued improvement of forecasting technologies and intelligence have provided aviation with tools today that were unimaginable 50 years ago, intelligence that saves billions of dollars and untold lives every year.

On top of that, aviation has enjoyed a revolution in in-cockpit weather information availability, with services like ADS-B’s TIS-B weather services and Sirius-XM’s up-to-the-minute weather information for pilots of everything from PA-28s to bizjets, allowing pilots to make solid mission-planning decisions based on real intelligence and not guesswork based on hours-old reports.

Autopilots

To many pilots, an autopilot is a dumb mechanical aid, something you can use to take a look at the chart without going off course or busting altitude. And they are that. But today’s digital autopilots are so much more, too.

Autopilots work on one common principle. The system uses navigation, heading and attitude inputs to activate servos to keep the plane going where the pilot has programmed it to go. In its simplest form, an autopilot keeps the wings level while ignoring all other parameters—this is more helpful than one might imagine; the loss-of-control chain in instrument conditions is typically begun by an uncommanded, steep bank, causing the plane to enter a spiral dive, building airspeed and making a recovery, especially when the plane is still in IMC, a dicey proposition.

Autopilots have inspired aviation dreamers to imagine what it might be able to do. Could it keep the plane on altitude, too? Tie it into the baro system, and of course it could. Could it follow a pre-programmed nav course? Yup. Just couple it to the nav receiver. Could it fly an approach? Ditto. Yup, that too. Keep the tail from wagging. Even that.

From there, engineers have gone to fantastic places. Today’s autopilots can work in the background, providing protection from surprise deviations in pitch, bank angle and airspeed, keeping the plane from getting either too slow or too fast. And several models today feature a single button the pilot can push to return the plane to straight and level flight in case of accidental loss of control (upset).

Autopilots have gone from being an expensive luxury to an indispensable tool for helping pilots keep the plane under control and assisting in flying very precise approaches, as well.

Plane & Pilot Snap Quiz: Autopilots

Active Noise-Canceling Headsets

The inclusion of headsets in a list of critical aviation technologies might seem off target, but it is not. Especially in small planes, which are almost universally too loud for our hearing health, a good noise-canceling headset is a critical pilot tool. 

Headsets have been around for a long time, and early models were heavy, clunky and not particularly effective. But they were better than nothing. A lot better. And because they early on incorporated earcup speakers and boom-mounted microphones, they helped ease communications difficulties, something pilots who never flew in the pre-headset days, when staticky ceiling-mounted speakers and handheld mics caused communications havoc on nearly every flight, are blissfully unaware of. 

New models, of course, feature electronic noise-canceling features, which work by sampling the exterior noise and creating an out-of-phase counterpart to it, effectively electronically canceling the exterior noise, at least a large part of it. 

Today, pilots take not good but excellent noise-canceling headsets for granted, but we all know the difference between the noise levels before we put them on and then after, when we don them and hit that switch to activate the sweet quiet that ingeniously designed electronics can bring. 

Plane Facts: Headsets

Traffic Avoidance

It’s rare for planes to run into each other in the vast skies above, but when they do, it’s almost always catastrophic. And it often inspires regulatory change. It was the 1956 collision between a Douglas DC-7 and a Lockheed Constellation over the Grand Canyon, killing all 128 aboard the two planes, that launched the creation of a nationwide radar network and the Federal Aviation Administration. In subsequent years, mid-air collisions in the skies above Cerritos and San Diego, California, drove additional layers of regulation, including mandatory equipment installation for planes that fly in busy airspace. 

For most of these advancements, larger military and commercial aircraft were the first to get robust anti-collision technologies. But in this case, the adoption by the FAA of mandatory transponder equipage went from the bottom to the top of the aviation food chain. The Mode C transponders sent regular, individually identifiable signals to help controllers keep track of where planes were, so they could issue heading clearances to keep the potentially conflicting traffic targets from merging in the worst way.  

Later, the FAA mandated collision avoidance systems, TCAS and TCAS II, for airliners and other large planes, the latter taking emergency, last-ditch collision avoidance out of the hands of the controllers and issuing direct clearances to the two planes involved to keep them from colliding. In recent years, even smaller planes got collision-avoidance gear, including the early TCAD system from Ryan and, later, more capable active traffic systems from companies like Avidyne and Garmin.  

Finally, the introduction of mandatory ADS-B in 2020 gave controllers and pilots new tools to individually identify and route traffic to keep potential conflict to a minimum while using satellite tracking to provide extremely accurate, up-to-the-second position information, including altitude, to all involved. 

5 Barriers Aviation Innovators Busted

The post Top 8 Aircraft Electronics Innovations Of All Time appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Please keep in mind that the pricing information and availability of the items are subject to change.

Coffee Aloft

The Wacaco Minipresso GR is a perfect companion for all your early-morning (or, really, any-time-of-day) flights. It’s a portable espresso machine that’s compact and lightweight, allowing you to enjoy quality java wherever your flying adventures take you. With an innovative semi-automatic piston at its core, it injects small quantities of water into the coffee adapter. After a few pushes and optimal extraction pressure, you’re rewarded with a rich and bold espresso. Measuring 6.89 inches and with an attractive and versatile carrying case, the Wacaco Minipresso GR is a welcome addition to any pilot’s flight bag.

Price: $54.90. Available at www.wacaco.com.

Yes, You Need Another Coffee Mug

!especially if it’s this stylish! A great gift to yourself or an aviator in your life, it shows off the classic silhouette of a Cessna 172 and can be personalized with a name and year. It’s dishwasher and microwave safe, is made of genuine ceramic and holds 16 ounces. Consider your gift list for a recent flying school graduate, a newly minted CFI or a retiring pilot complete. They’ll love this addition to their mug collection that truly shows off their aviation pride.

Price: Starts at $19.95. Available at homewetbar.com.

Plane & Pilot Membership

Because you’re a discerning pilot with an eye for excellent aviation content, you’ve probably already availed of a Plane & Pilot membership. In case you haven’t or are looking for the perfect present this Christmas, all our membership levels are invaluable, practical gifts that any aviator will love. Explore our complete range of flight reports, technique articles, gear reviews and aviation buyer’s guides written by our experts. Get great tips from Plane & Pilot‘s experienced and insightful writers on how to get the most out of your flying. Access hundreds of articles looking at flying safety from a perspective that makes you think in new ways about how we take to the air. Learn amazing tips and techniques through members-only eWorkshops and eGuides, and enter all our contests for free.

Price: Starts at $3.99 a month. Available at planeandpilotmag.com.

Aviation-Themed Candles

Bring your hangar home with candles designed for lovers of all things flight. Our favorite is XC Candles’ Jet Fuel In The Morning, with top notes of high-performance fuel, middle notes of engine exhaust and motor oil, and base notes of greasy hangar. Handmade in small batches in Denver, Colorado, these soy wax candles are nontoxic and clean burning, environmentally friendly, biodegradable and with longer burn times than other commercial, mass-produced candles. They come in 16-, 8- and 4-ounce sizes, each burning 80+, 40+ and 20+ hours, respectively. The wicks are cotton and lead/zinc free. XC Candles sells other flying-themed scents, like Wake Turbulence, Preflight Walkaround and Love At First Flight.

Price: Starts at $16.99. Available at etsy.com/shop/XCCandleCo.

Simpsons-Style Custom Pilot Portraits

Doh! Immortalize yourself, Simpsons-style, through a custom portrait of you and your favorite aircraft. The artist will draw you as “a yellow cartoon character” based on photos you send them of you and your plane (or helo) and will email you a hi-res digital file within three to four days. No physical delivery is offered, which means you can have the portrait printed and framed affordably. You might even choose to have the image printed on a T-shirt, canvas or a mug. The artist can recommend a printing company if needed. Options are also available for a family or group portrait.

Price: Starts at $30. Available at etsy.com/shop/CartoonPortrait.

The Ultimate Pilot’s Watch

Garmin’s D2Air is the pinnacle of aviation technology!on your wrist. A beautiful AMOLED display makes for ease of use to access its host of cutting-edge features, which include Direct-To navigation, a pulse ox sensor, weather reports, an HSI course needle, airport information, barometric altimeter, flight logging and connectivity to the Garmin Pilot app, among others. Stylish, sleek and modern, it’s designed with a durable Corning Gorilla Glass 3 lens, stainless-steel bezel and a premium black leather strap with a silicone band option. A smartwatch that goes above and beyond in both form and function.

Price: $499. Available at buy.garmin.com.

Sporty’s Electronic E6B Flight Computer

For fast planning and accurate FAA test calculations, trust what over 250,000 pilots have used over the years. Invaluable in the cockpit, Sporty’s Electronic E6B Flight Computer has all the useful and easy-to-access features of the original but with a more rugged design and other updated tools. It has a backlit screen for nighttime operations, a built-in storage case to afford screen protection when not in use, the large keypad is pilot-friendly for easier operation in turbulence, it has rubber feet to secure it in place, and it comes with a quick reference card. Even more, it has 20 aviation functions, such as density altitude and true airspeed, and is complemented by 20 aviation calculations that include nautical miles, kilometers and avgas gallons/pounds, among others.

Price: $69.95. Available at sportys.com.

Bose A20 With Bluetooth

A pilot’s wishlist isn’t complete without a headset on it. Our suggestion? Bose’s A20 with Bluetooth. It’s one of the lightest headsets on the market at only 12 ounces, and with its soft sheepskin headpad and minimal clamping force, its all-day comfort can’t be beat. Its active noise-canceling reduction is proprietary to Bose and makes it easy to call Flight Service or update family members in conjunction with its Bluetooth phone interface. With outstanding battery life and a fully adjustable mic that can be connected to the earcup or set in a range of stable positions, no wonder it’s a favorite choice for pilots who value form and function. The Bose A20 is certified to FAA TSO-C139 and EASA ETSO-C139 standards and comes with a five-year warranty.

Price: Starts at $1,095. Available at sportys.com.

The post Gift Ideas For Pilots And Aviation Enthusiasts 2021 appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

The idea was great; the execution, not so much. That first-gen version, while promising, had a number of issues. Pilots complained about the design’s headband and earpieces being uncomfortable for long flights. The first ProFlight headsets were lighter than a pair of A20s but still heavier than the industry-standard Telex headset. Also sporting a thick, cumbersome cord, the design struggled in the market.

The ProFlight Series 2 headsets incorporate feedback from the field and feature significant improvements. Now weighing in at 4.5 ounces, Bose’s ProFlight Series 2 is only half an ounce heavier than the Telex Airman 850. The changes go much deeper than a crash diet, though.

The microphone and cable can be swapped from left to right without tools—a handy feature for anyone who doesn’t always sit in the same seat. Because the cable is thinner and more flexible now, it doesn’t disturb the headset when moving your head, as in the previous iteration. The control module offers three levels of digital noise reduction. Low offers minimal reduction in background noise. Medium filters out more noise but leaves a slight base rumble. The high level of noise reduction reduces the noise, too, and even works well enough in the cabin of a piston single-engine aircraft. We reviewed it in a Mooney M20C and an Airbus 320. Medium noise reduction worked great in the jet; the Mooney demanded the highest noise reduction.

An included silicone band and d-ring provide a handy mechanism for hanging the control box in the flight deck, so it’s not dangling and swaying in turbulence.

A number of conversations on the flight deck happen outside the intercom system. With traditional headsets, pilots would push one earcup off the ear and converse normally; an in-ear headset makes that awkward, as you’d be inserting and removing the earpiece. Bose’s solution is a quick double-tap to minimize noise reduction in the applicable earpiece. Tap it again to restore the selected noise reduction.

Because there are no earcups, there is no seal around the ear to be interfered with for bespectacled aviators. Anyone who wears glasses full-time will recognize this as a giant plus for the design.

Many other in-ear designs have used round ear inserts; the ProFlight 2 has molded silicone bits that are directional, with a lobe to match the curve of your ear. The first couple times you don this headset will take a moment; by the third day, it’ll become routine. ProFlight pro-tip: The wire into the earpiece exits forward when you insert the pieces. Also, try all three sizes of ear inserts for more than a moment. The inside of your ears may be smaller than you imagined.

There are still a few shortcomings, though. The control box has volume adjustments for Bluetooth input but not for the audio coming from the aircraft—you’ll run that from the audio panel. And just to be clear, this headset is not really for piston aircraft. They are designed with pilots of jets in mind.

The carrying case is slimmer than that of an A20, but to make it fit, you rotate two headset pads, and a diagram suggests an orderly pattern to wrap the cables. When you’ve had a very long day, and you just want to get to the hotel, there’s a temptation to just try to make it fit in a hurry.

The Bose ProFlight 2 is available from multiple retailers for $995 without Bluetooth or $1,045 with Bluetooth. In addition to two-pin general aviation plugs, LEMO and XLR Plugs are available, which can power the headset depending on the aircraft configuration. www.bose.com

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The idea was great; the execution, not so much. That first-gen version, while promising, had a number of issues. Pilots complained about the design’s headband and earpieces being uncomfortable for long flights. The first ProFlight headsets were lighter than a pair of A20s but still heavier than the industry-standard Telex headset. Also sporting a thick, cumbersome cord, the design struggled in the market.

The ProFlight Series 2 headsets incorporate feedback from the field and feature significant improvements. Now weighing in at 4.5 ounces, Bose’s ProFlight Series 2 is only half an ounce heavier than the Telex Airman 850. The changes go much deeper than a crash diet, though.

The microphone and cable can be swapped from left to right without tools—a handy feature for anyone who doesn’t always sit in the same seat. Because the cable is thinner and more flexible now, it doesn’t disturb the headset when moving your head, as in the previous iteration. The control module offers three levels of digital noise reduction. Low offers minimal reduction in background noise. Medium filters out more noise but leaves a slight base rumble. The high level of noise reduction reduces the noise, too, and even works well enough in the cabin of a piston single-engine aircraft. We reviewed it in a Mooney M20C and an Airbus 320. Medium noise reduction worked great in the jet; the Mooney demanded the highest noise reduction.

An included silicone band and d-ring provide a handy mechanism for hanging the control box in the flight deck, so it’s not dangling and swaying in turbulence.

A number of conversations on the flight deck happen outside the intercom system. With traditional headsets, pilots would push one earcup off the ear and converse normally; an in-ear headset makes that awkward, as you’d be inserting and removing the earpiece. Bose’s solution is a quick double-tap to minimize noise reduction in the applicable earpiece. Tap it again to restore the selected noise reduction.

Because there are no earcups, there is no seal around the ear to be interfered with for bespectacled aviators. Anyone who wears glasses full-time will recognize this as a giant plus for the design.

Many other in-ear designs have used round ear inserts; the ProFlight 2 has molded silicone bits that are directional, with a lobe to match the curve of your ear. The first couple times you don this headset will take a moment; by the third day, it’ll become routine. ProFlight pro-tip: The wire into the earpiece exits forward when you insert the pieces. Also, try all three sizes of ear inserts for more than a moment. The inside of your ears may be smaller than you imagined.

There are still a few shortcomings, though. The control box has volume adjustments for Bluetooth input but not for the audio coming from the aircraft—you’ll run that from the audio panel. And just to be clear, this headset is not really for piston aircraft. They are designed with pilots of jets in mind.

The carrying case is slimmer than that of an A20, but to make it fit, you rotate two headset pads, and a diagram suggests an orderly pattern to wrap the cables. When you’ve had a very long day, and you just want to get to the hotel, there’s a temptation to just try to make it fit in a hurry.

The Bose ProFlight 2 is available from multiple retailers for $995 without Bluetooth or $1,045 with Bluetooth. In addition to two-pin general aviation plugs, LEMO and XLR Plugs are available, which can power the headset depending on the aircraft configuration. www.bose.com.

What Are the Best Aviation Headsets of 2020?

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Much of aviation changes slowly, if at all. After all, the most popular models in today’s fleet were built 40 or more years ago. It was nearly twice that long ago that the regulatory framework that governs light aviation was riveted in place. But thankfully, since then some things have changed for the better, and headsets are one of them.

It hasn’t always been that way. Many of our readers, myself included, began flying before headset use was encouraged. It wasn’t that anyone was ignorant of the risks, just that widespread use of headsets wasn’t yet a thing. Luckily, though, a couple of pioneers saw the future and dedicated themselves to building headsets that were light enough and comfortable enough to wear for long stretches. Today headsets are more than a curious pilot accessory. They are a preflight checklist item, and not just for the pilot but for everyone on board.

To get there from the earliest headsets, which dispensed as much pain as they did reduce noise, took some time and some doing. The chief advances were the introduction and use of better, more durable, quieter and more form-fitting cushioning materials for both the ear cups and the headband. The design of the headset structure, from headband to ear cups, has advanced in similar, often less-dramatic ways, though a few, including a couple we review here, use a headband design, a steel arch that sits atop the head with pads attached to each end, that is strong and durable but not particularly comfortable.

Today’s headsets cut noise in a variety of ways, though the most popular ones use a combination of passive and active noise attenuation, which you can mimic by sticking your ears with your fingers, as most of us do when a particularly loud plane pulls up to the front of the FBO ramp.

The other major advancement in comfort and noise reduction was the introduction more than 25 years ago of active noise-canceling technology, which electronically cuts down on the noise in the outside environment.

Regardless of how it is done, cutting down on noise is critical to pilot health…and performance. Stress and distraction are far more likely to compromise a pilot in a noisy environment. A good headset is a piece of safety equipment, and today’s pilots get that. 

It goes beyond safety, as well. We can’t stress enough the importance of wearing a good headset every time you switch on the mags. General aviation aircraft, especially piston singles and even those that are considered quieter than most, are way too loud for your ears. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says that damage to your hearing will result from long-term exposure to levels above around 85 dBs For reference, a typical noise level in a legacy Cessna Skylane is around 92 dbs. So while few headset makers discuss the noise reduction specs behind their headsets, you can safely assume that every model in our lineup, if worn correctly, will cut noise to well below that OSHA reference point, which is any headset’s most important function.

The other big advances in headset design are in the realm of connectivity. Most of today’s models, even budget ones, can connect to your phone or tablet wirelessly. 

The headsets in our roundup are of three basic designs, over the ear, on the ear and in the ear. For most light plane flying, the on-the-ear designs are not quiet enough, but for some, not all, twins and light jets, they are just right. So keep that in mind as you peruse our lineup, and be sure to match your mission with the right model.

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On Day One of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, Bose unveiled its update to the ProFlight, the ProFlight Series 2 Aviation Headset.

When Bose launched its ProFlight Headset at Sun ‘n Fun a year and a half ago, it was hopeful of capturing a slice of the commercial pilot market. Pilots who fly jets or turboprop twins don’t need as much noise attenuation ability as those of most piston planes. The product, which was light and sounded great, seemed like a natural to leverage Bose’s name and reputation with a new class of pilots.

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The first lightweight headset had some shortcomings, though, including some wearability issues along with touch-control glitches. To its credit, Bose listened.

The new ProFlight Series 2 addresses a number of issues. Its design now utilizes a much thinner and more flexible cable for easier repositioning of the cable without repositioning the headset, too. Its “tap” control has been improved to be more responsive and easier to use, and its low-noise mode, which helps pilots when they’re talking to each other not through the intercom, which is a surprisingly common mode in quiet airplanes. It also now allows the use of custom-molded earpieces from Bose’s partner Avery Sound. It also improved the design of the microphone body to allow the pilot to better and more easily position it while keeping the muff attached. Finally, it also improved the Bluetooth performance of the unit, while also offering a non-Bluetooth version.

Check out photos from opening day at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019!

The super-light (128 grams on head weight) ProFlight Series 2, like its predecessor, is TSO approved—a requirement for most types of commercial operation. If you’re at the show, head over to Bose’s outdoor exhibit space to try it out!

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At an invitation only press event two weeks ago, Bose announced a new headset, designed for pro pilots who fly turbine aircraft. The lightweight and comfortable—we tried it!—new ProFlight headset is FAA TSO’ed (an FAA requirement for most commercial planes) and it features a raft of innovative features, including a boom you can swap from left to right with ease, adjustable noise cancellation (more for noisy cockpits, less for quiet ones), and adjustable, side-selectable noise reduction you can set by tapping a single ear to instantly adjust the level of that one side.

The ProFlight headset goes for $995.95 and will be available soon from Bose and its authorized dealers.

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