Headset Slipping under G
 

Hi Guys,
Working toward my aero endorsement today and I found my headset tended to slip backward off my head - how does one overcome this problem? Obviously without looking like an idiot with a helmet etc...

Cheers

Btw: headset is a lightspeed zulu.

Only do 1G manouvers...:E

Use a cloth helmet.

DC are better under g because of the higher clamping pressure. As I recall the headset alone was good for about +3/-1. If you stick the cable under your chest strap it not only keeps the cable out of you eyes, but makes it easier to reel back the headset if it comes off. Some guys make up elastic chin straps. The best thing is the DC cloth helmet. I've seen lightspeed headsets inserted in them, but they are really made for DC headsets. They are outrageously expensive for what they are, but its the real thing. A second had set of DC headsets bought off ebay from the US as a dedicated headset for aeros will be way cheaper than the cloth cap. Do the headsets inc conversion with the velcro battery pack and you'll have a nice unit.

I find that if you move the headset so it is angled slightly forward of the top of your head it stays there with no major problems.

Looks odd, but I used a bootlace tied to the headset frame as a chin strap. For deluxe version use one of those springloaded slider thingys you find on clothing or bag drawstrings to set the tension in the chinstrap.:)

Yeah this always worked for me too.

Yes, after 100 combat missions at North Viet Bankstown ones mask does tend to droop a little.....


:E:E:E

velcro??....

Use a helmet, helps with bird strikes

No the helmet is only really required whilst learning aero's. It is a sound, solid investment for protection from ones instructor each time you fail to follow basic instructions or simply do something dumb.

:ok:

get a headband or better use ur tie

Shave your head and use tit tape.

I have over a thousand hours on aerobatics ~+5 - 6, -2 and my headset (DC) has never moved (maybe I have a big head).
I find placement of the headset leads important, slip it under your shoulder harness and leave about 10cm excess otherwise if you turn your head too quickly it will yank your headset right off and that kind of distraction is something you don't need when you are learning aero's.
Good luck, the aero's really improve your handling skills and your ability to read the aircraft.

XG

Never ceases to amaze me how safety is "uncool". Why wouldn't you use a helmet?? I don't give a sh!t about what others think... if the helmet is going to increase my chances of survival in the case of an accident, or during a bailout, or a canopy jettison, or a bird strike, or a.... etc etc etc, then I'm going to wear one!!

My kids have grown up always wear helmets on their bikes and seatbelts in cars... no helmet = no bike... no seatbelt = walking!! It's now a reflex for them to grab a helmet or wear a seatbelt, regardless of what others around them are doing.

I wear a helmet when water and snow skiing, and when flying aeros... does that make me an idiot??

And if you want my opinion then you can't go past the kevlar Gentex HGU-55 with ANR - light and comfortable... and you can even get it painted up like MAVERICK!!!!

The issue with helmets is that you need to know what you are trying to protect against. If you don't make that assessment first, you're just w**king. Helmets for race cars are different from motorbikes are different from cyclists are different from equestrian.

Wearing of parachutes is not required in Australia and very few aerobatic pilots wear them, so unless you are one of this minority, there is no requirement for bail out protection.

One of the reasons helmets are worn in car racing is because of the potential of debris inside the cabin hitting you on the head, or hitting your head against the roll cage. Neither of these conditions exist in an aeroplane and frankly, in an aerobatic aircraft if you hit the ground with any real force its lack of crashworthiness may mean the hitting your head on the canopy is the least of your worries.

The arguments against helmets are increased weight on your neck under "g" and reduced peripheral vision.

One of the advantages of aviation is that very good data is kept on accidents. So we don't need to shadow box at potential risks, we can consider the pattern of history. None of the people I know who have been injured or killed in aerobatic aircraft would have benefited one iota from a helmet. In fact I can't recall any that would have benefited from a parachute. Although I had an animated dinner one night with Kermit Weeks who reeled of a list of people he knew who had been saved by parachutes.

The point on chutes is a good one, I see no practical need for one as the only time you will use it is if you break a wing or have some sort of structural failure and in that instance fat chance attempting to bail out without an ejection seat throwing you out as the acceleration of the aircraft will most probably keep you firmly in your seat anyway.

As for helmets, I see other pilots using them at comps etc, their reasoning is it protects their heads from the canopy during flick rolls etc...:rolleyes:. I even saw one git wearing one with oxygen attached (<2500ft AMSL) provided many laughs.

Its fun taking the piss out of them. I don't see any advantage other than providing a useful scoop/bucket for the contents of my skull should I have a prang.

Parachutes....the use of
 

And if you dont have one,....you just dont give yourself a second chance.
Death is fatal.!!!

Examples...Chipmunk. Failed to recover from spin. 2 shilling coin found in control system limiting stick movement. 2 dead. Historical, I know

Very recent. Pitts 12 Failed to recover from inverted? spin. 2 dead.

Ditto as seen on TV US airshow recently. 1 dead.

NZ Formation aeros practice. One Harvard cuts the tail off another. Next option for the tail-less? None. 1 dead.

Glider pilot gets flung thru the canopy in a violent thermal after removing straps to adjust instrument. Next option... pull ripcord. 1 lives to tell the tale.

US airshow pilot, when giving a Stearman a VERY had work out, had a wing fold up.
Next option... "goodye, charlie" and pull the rip cord. 1 lives to tell the tale.

And I bet the two instructors in a Tommahawk that was reluctatant to come out of a spin had a think flash "parachute"!!??!! on the way down. Surveve, but only just .
On Harvard Adventure flights in the US... parachute required, a briefing and etc.
And if little old Granny wont jump because she's too afraid, the pilot can chuck her out, because the 'chutes were fitted with barometric auto release.
Height and time permitting of course.

For FLs/high altitude mapping in PNG, I used one as a back cushion. That was MY insurance policy, because if we had a fire.... no chance of getting to the ground before the wing fell off. 2 like aircraft fell to earth, fiery and wrongly while I was there.. so I felt much better for it. At least I had another option.

As for PIC..???. Kiss kiss... goodbye captain.!!

Examples...Chipmunk. Failed to recover from spin. 2 shilling coin found in control system limiting stick movement. 2 dead. Historical, I know

Assuming you have never been in a spin, I challenge you to climb out of a cockpit while the aircraft is spinning, good luck.


Very recent. Pitts 12 Failed to recover from inverted? spin. 2 dead.

Again, simply opening the canopy and hoping to fallout faster than the aircraft is decesding which from memory in a Pits is >6000ft/minute is prob not possible.

NZ Formation aeros practice. One Harvard cuts the tail off another. Next option for the tail-less? None. 1 dead.

Lets say he was at the legal minimum for aerobatics of 3000ft AGL, with no tail i can assume said aircraft was in a pretty steep descent which would mean they might have had maybe 20 seconds to get out and inflate the chute, chute wouldnt have made a difference

Glider pilot gets flung thru the canopy in a violent thermal after removing straps to adjust instrument. Next option... pull ripcord. 1 lives to tell the tale.

What the?? That man deserves a Darwin award, sounds like a urban myth to me

US airshow pilot, when giving a Stearman a VERY had work out, had a wing fold up.
Next option... "goodye, charlie" and pull the rip cord. 1 lives to tell the tale.

He must have had a fair bit of altitude which implies he was not in an airshow, do you have details of this incident, I would be interested.

And I bet the two instructors in a Tommahawk that was reluctatant to come out of a spin had a think flash "parachute"!!??!! on the way down. Surveve, but only just .

Reluctant to come out of a spin, x2 instructors. I assume there was some sort of failure or is it the two instructors were just dopes. Most GA aircraft descend >6000ft per minute in a stable spin, by the time you are out of the incipient phase, stable and then attempt to come out of it, you only have thirty seconds maybe before you hit the ground. That would not be enough time to have the ohh bugger moment and realise that you need to get out and then get clear of the aircraft and inflate your chute assuming you can even get out in the first place.

On Harvard Adventure flights in the US... parachute required, a briefing and etc.
And if little old Granny wont jump because she's too afraid, the pilot can chuck her out, because the 'chutes were fitted with barometric auto release.
Height and time permitting of course.

I believe on any flight in the USA conducting aerobatics, parachute is required.

For FLs/high altitude mapping in PNG, I used one as a back cushion. That was MY insurance policy, because if we had a fire.... no chance of getting to the ground before the wing fell off. 2 like aircraft fell to earth, fiery and wrongly while I was there.. so I felt much better for it. At least I had another option.

Ok, I agree with that, rugged terrain with no where to land, fair call.

A few years back many of the ultralight guys wore helmets regularly, but not many do nowdays, probably because the types of aircraft they fly have changed. It's not a bad idea in any aircraft as long as it's comfortable and it doesn't restrict your vision and ability to fly the aircraft. Helmets are a good idea in certain low wing aircraft - RV's, SportStar, Corby, KR, Morgan Series, Liberty and many others.