Listening to the Engine
 

This is prompted by Fallen Eagle's posting on the Music thread. Eagle makes the (to my mind) very valid point that you should be listening to the engine when you fly, which accords with my old instructor's dictum that in flying you should use all of your senses except taste (NB disabling the sense of taste is what allows you to drink aviation coffee, wear large brown shades with nasty gold wire frames, travel in aircraft painted 1970s puce etc, so it comes in pretty handy).

This leads me to ask about views on active noise reducing headsets. I steer clear of them because I want to be able to hear the engine going bogggler boggler cough cough cough, whilst I look with keen and Class II medically approved eyes at the con rods, CD racking systems etc. flying out of the cowling (drat, must remember to put in some of that gloopy brown stuff next time). What do the rest of you think?

ANR also makes it harder to synchronise RPMs on the light twins I have flown, which do not benefit from any auto-system for synchronisation. The typical ANR battery packs also doesn't live too well with a high positive and negative environment (ie aeros!).

As an engineer of many years only recently turned PPL I have to say its a positive pleasure to listen to the engine!!! Just think how upset you'll be if it begins to run rough or even stop and you don't notice......

Music? PAH!

Musak is for lifts and boutiques - or for listening to on a decent stereo.

When I'm in the air, the sound of my 36 litre V-12 crackling up front at almost 400 knots is all I want to hear. http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/cool.gif

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Oh no nurse, not the padded cell again....

I was always taught to start up without the headset when possible in order to listen to the engine and shut down similarly... if possible.

I went years and years without headsets they did not seem to be as available as now. Used to be quite happy with hand mike when there was a wireless oops, I know old fart. Strangly ones ear quickly becomes atuned to a particular noise such as an engine and will detect things like carb ice quite efficiently.Only after many years of instructing did I sucumb to head sets out of necessity, I find some head sets do enhance certain noises and the detection thereof but,A.N.R. no thanks.I also find in older a/c both open and closed cockpit where there is a lot of background wind noise rattling and vibration that a good helmet or head set helps one listen to the bit that makes the most noise. bye bye