Headset Question.
 

On most of the rental planes i fly the headsets are, shall we say past their sell by date? The aviation shops i have looked at want a couple of hundred quid for a set and thats money i would rather spend on building my hours. So has anyone got any idea where i could get hold of a decent used set? Thanks in advance chaps.
S10L.:)

Ebay. That's where I got mine.

Really? I thought ebay was full of scammers! How much did you pay there?

I got my DC H10-13.4s second hand on ebay for about £120 four years ago. They are £199 at Transair.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/David-Clark-H1...QQcmdZViewItem

Have a look here as well.

http://www.sherburn-aero-club.org.uk/ForSale/index.htm

Bought a hardly used Dave Clark H10-13.4 off eBay for £125 earlier this year. eBay is not full of scammers - but if still in doubt read the feedback relating to the seller before you bid.

I didn't buy my headset on eBay (it hadn't been invented then), but buying there is safe if you follow the common sense rules:
- Don't buy off anyone with fewer than 10 feedback (absolute minimum) unless the value is insignificant;
- Don't buy off anyone with lower than 98% positive feedback (most folks don't leave negative feedback because they expect to receive the same by return), and look to see if there are any "hidden gripes" in feedback, or "mutually withdrawn" feedback and what they said;
- Pay with a credit card (via PayPal if the person has the £500 guarantee);
- Never, ever buy "outside" eBay if someone makes you an offer to do so;
- Check that the "Buy it Now" price is sensible (I've seen some that are over the UK shop retail price);
- Decide before you start what your maximum bid will be, and don't go over it.

I've bought over 250 items on eBay over the years, only had a couple of "duds" (they were promptly refunded), and one attempted scam which eBay spotted and stopped before I did.

I'm very happy with the eBay experience, but I've heard others speak very differently. I suspect they didn't follow the "rules".

..and the final rule is - if the bit of kit you're bidding on has a serial number, ask the seller to provide it - if you can check with the manufacturer to see if its on the stolen list.

As someone who came downstairs yesterday morning to find persons unknown had gained entry to the house in the wee small hours and helped themselves to my TV, laptop, mobile and car keys (but not the car...yet) you learn a lot from the plod who turn up afterwards (bless 'em).

Cheap headsets
 

Hi stray10level,

There are also some cheap headsets that can be bought new for about £100. I have never used one myself, but those who have used them comment favourably about them. They appear to perform well and seem to be durable in use.

Broomstick.

Ebay is great.

Make sure the seller has good feedback, say 100+ transactions with 99%+ positive feedback.

I buy and sell loads of stuff on Ebay and the only problems I have ever had were a couple of people buying something and then not paying - I still had the item so I left them bad feedback and put it up for sale again; I just lost the Ebay commission.

U.S. Ebay (ebay.com) is much bigger on the aviation front than ebay.co.uk and you can buy and sell there too. It's all the same Ebay, the prices are in US$.

But you do need a paypal account. Without paypal, Ebay is a hassle.

stray10level
 

Hi mate, give sherburn aero club a ring, was in there sat and i think there was a few good second hand sets that were for sale on the members notice board, hope this helps!!

I bought a pair of HM cheapies of eBay for £44, they are comfy and work very well. Only had 1 incompatibility issue, whilst on my Skills test my Examiner had to dump his BOSE X and put his DCs one. I have since flown alongside BOSE Xs in other A/C and they have been fine, so probably the intercom more than the headset

I bought a set of David Clark H10-40's for £60+£10p&p. They were a great buy! The microphone is very clear, very loud - the noise reduction isn't as good as ANR headsets however it is almost dead silent and I do like to hear a bit of engine. Suprisingly the headset doesn't clamp on my head at all, they are light and therefore comfortable to wear.
To increase comfort I bought a new headband that is a huge cloth encased foam pad: http://www.flightstore.co.uk/david_c...163.dept_l3.0/
I bought it when the january sales were on and they were £2.95... TWO Pound! :p
Never looked back absolutely fantastic purchase. :ok:

I bought a Bose off ebay about a year and a half ago. It had very little use, and ran like a top. I paid about two thirds of what it would have cost to buy one new.

Try Marvgolden.com. They've always had very copetitive prices, and I've bought several headsets there.

Many times flight schools will have bulletin boards with notices of things for sale; headsets come up all the time.

My opinion,

eBay is fine, I've never felt poorly treated.

Buy a David Clark. They are more expensive, but worth the extra. I'm not saying that there aren't other good ones too, but David Clark offers consistantly good quality, and even if it's 20 years old, it will probably work like new. I've rebuilt and used DC headsets which had been submerged for days. They dried out and cleaned up well, and worked fine. Things like the quality of the wires and plugs may not seem important when you're buying, but they will when they stop working a few thousand feet up one night!

I'm still using the DC headset I bought new in 1980. I've replaced a few ear seals, but other than that, it's still working perfectly - the quality and reliability was worth the extra money, and so is my hearing! You gotta like the Bose NC, but I'm not in the group that can affort those. I owned a DC ANC headset, but was not pleased, and sold it. Make sure you get a newer mic, not the older carbon. Otherwise there might be slight incompatability with intercom users.

Cheers, Pilot DAR