You flying airships these days?
No, something a tad faster.
I have had a couple of chances to go fly an airship, before. I'd like to have done it for a year, just to have experienced the lifestyle and the job. Perhaps even just to say I did it. The pay wasn't enough to get by, and the job required 330 or more days on the road each year. Easy enough if one's single, but at the time, I wasn't.
Our trips presently are often long enough to require two crews on board, to be legal. Duty days get long, too. I've got a 26 hour duty day coming up in a few days, and it's not uncommon to deadhead ten hours into a trip...before I actually go to work. I was at twelve hours a few days ago by the time we pushed back...and that's the day just getting started. Add to that some long legs with lengthy flight hours, and a headset that is comfortable for extended periods is an absolute must.
ANR headsets may be great for commercial and/or IFR flying; but for student and low-hour private pilots I reckon these are better value.
I used the Flightcom 4DX for a number of years, along with other similar headsets, in all kinds of equipment. I used them regularly for large, four-engine radial powered airplanes...which are extremely loud, inside. (I measured the noise level in the 4Y once, then took the db meter to the edge of the runway, where I stood while two F-16's departed in full afterburner. The 4Y was louder, inside).
With any of the passive David-Clark type headsets (such as the Flightcom), I install the Oregon Aero hush kits, which are high-density foam for the earcups, thick memory-foam earseals, and a wide, sheepskin and wool headband. These become comfortable and quiet, and in the PB4Y-2, I wore them with EAR foam earplugs, as well. I tried some of the various noise-cancelling active ANR headsets, but they couldn't keep up, especially at high power settings, with the extreme noise in the cockpit. The passive headsets worked very well. The one thing that the noise-reduction headsets did do (such as Lightspeed, Bose, etc), was improve communications at lower power settings, when the headsets could actually keep up.
I've also used the Oregon Aero hush kits in my helmet, which makes it a lot quieter and more comfortable. I don't use ANR in the helmet at all, and where the helmet only gets used with turbine equipment, it doesn't need anything else. I'd still prefer to be able to hear the airplane, which I couldn't do if the helmet were any quieter.
Stock DC-style helmets such as the Flight Com tend to cause hot spots on my head and they make my jaws ache after an hour or three. I've worn them on long days with long flights of 11+ hours, and I feel like my head has been on a blacksmith's vise after some time. When I wore the Flightcom's and David Clarks regularly, I always carried aspirin or ibuprophen in my flight suit, because it was needed.
Last year I did a lot of light airplane flying, and I mostly used the Bose X for that. It improved comfort and communications in the cockpit enough that I'd say it's well worth the cost.
That said, I bought mine on ebay for two thirds the price, then promptly took it to the middle east where it sat in very hot cockpits, got covered in find sand, and generally abused, without the least complaint.
I learned to fly in airplanes without electrical systems or radios, and often flew without any hearing protection. My first flying job was ag work, and we used wwII headsets with the fiberglass insulation and flocking falling out...old,worn headsets. I still have my original telex headset, the first one I bought, with huge microphone, and big, square earcups. It's been around for some time, and the old earseals are worthless, but it still works like it did when it was new. I've had in-ear professional headsets, various Plantronics units, Lightspeeds, many of the basic GA style David Clark units from DC, Flightcom, Sigtronics, Softcom, etc. Of them all, the Bose have proven the best, the most durable, and have provided the best service, by far.
In my opinion, whether one is flying a 747 internationally, flying air attack over forest fires, or enjoying a peaceful weekend flight to see the leaves changing color in the fall, a good-quality headset is well worth the price. The days of going without a headset are past, for the most part, and the headset should be considered an investment in a piece of quality communications equipment. Spending six hundred dollars or more on a headset should be a no-brainer. One buys proper training, one buys proper equipment, one spends a small fortune to rent an airplane for an afternoon...a single outlay of cash or credit for a quality headset is a natural choice that's money well spent....even for the private pilot who wants nothing more than to enjoy the flight as best he or she can.
In that case, getting a descent headset like a Bose is all the more important. Go try one, and you'll understand why.
I would fully agree that if you are flying around a bunch of chimps who sit, stand, spill beer on the headset, and then use the cable from it to help themselves down from the footsteps then a $100 headset is the way to go.
I understand what you're saying, and I understand that it's tongue-in-cheek, but if one is operating in an environment that's going to be abusive, all the more reason to invest in a quality headset that can take it. My Bose X has held up to some fairly rough conditions, all over the world, better than most any other headset I've tried. It's also a lot more comfortable. Better yet, if I do manage to wear it out, fora few dollars, Bose will refurbish it as good as new. It's seen service in everything from Cessna 210's to King Air's to Learjets to 747's...and is still going strong. It's been frozen, baked, tossed, dropped, banged, rained on, snowed on, beaten and abused, and it's still good to go.