Boy, did this thing ever dry up over the past few months. There’s a lot less material to write about when you’re not flying a couple times a week… I have been getting airborne from time to time, just not a whole lot. What prompted me to come back here was an experience in the headset department.
To rewind a bit, I don’t think I ever really detailed my headset purchase earlier this year. We’ll start with the beginning- probably like most students, I started out using whatever loaner the school had around. That was satisfactory for a few flights, but it didn’t take long for me to start desiring something better. I didn’t need a depth of experience to know that after about 30 minutes, the loaner headset started making my jaw hurt. Really uncomfortable.
I started out intending to buy a tried and true David Clark set. I’d had occasion to wear DCs a few times previously, and at least they never made my head hurt, so they seemed like a decent default selection. But after bringing the subject up with Scott and another instructor at Advanced, I got strong recommendations for LightSpeed’s ANR sets. (in fact, Scott told me he thought Lightspeed had better ANR than his pricey Bose X) I was still on a budget, though, so I figured I’d end up with a lower-end set. Long story short, I ended up picking up a slightly used 15XLc off eBay for a song. I don’t know how they might stack up with other ANR sets, but I do know that they’re heaven compared to the loaners. I was pleased with my purchase.
Fast-forward a few months. Towards the end of my training, Scott and I were getting ready for a flight… as I put my headset on, there was a pop from the left side, and that cradle split apart. The large center screw that took most of the load appeared to have abdicated earlier, and the two remaining smaller screws were clearly not meant to take the twisting load where the cradles joined the headband. I implemented a temporary fix using some zip-ties. (didn’t have any duct tape available) I kept meaning to give Lightspeed a call to see about replacement parts, but procrastinated. A lot. As in I finally got around to calling them last week, after several months of zip-tied headset action.
This, however, is where my decision to go with Lightspeed paid off. I spent maybe ten minutes total on the phone, and at the end of those ten minutes, I had a set of new cradles headed to my door. Price? Zip. Zilch. Remember that I bought this set used. I’m not the original owner, it’s definitely out of warranty. They didn’t care, didn’t even ask how long I’d had the set, and I didn’t ask for free parts. When I asked how much it was, the reply was, “Oh, don’t worry about it, just tell someone about us.”
Well, you can count on that.
So now I have a newly whole headset, I know to keep an eye on those big cradle screws, and I feel pretty certain who I’ll be getting my next headset from. Heck, with their trade-up program, I can send in my 15XLcs and get a set of Zulus for $550… but I think I’m more likely to pay full price for Zulus and keep the 15s for passenger use. After my experience with the loaners, I’m hesitant to condemn my passengers to them, but I don’t have much choice right now.
