717 Headset
 

New Hire here. Coming from the bus where we used the ship sets. Whats the headset usage like on the 717? I looked through some old posts on headset preferences. Its been a while and things have changed, what are you guys and gals using on the 717 flight deck?

I find that the FO's I fly with are 50/50 ship sets vs bring their own. I use ship sets because I really don't care to carry a headset around that I'll probably lose a few times. On longer flights, I just throw in some foamies that I've found that I like. I tend to see clarity aloft more than any other headset, but I wouldn't say it's by a large margin.

it’s quiet enough that a telex 850 is a great lightweight solution. that or a bose pro fight will serve you well. ship sets are disgusting

Most of the FOs use a noise canceling headset of some variation. If you use the ship set, get a pop filter for it so ATC can understand you.

Some seats in the 717s have a hot mic, while others don’t. Only a handful of captains make good use of it, but maybe that will change soon as the feature gets deployed fleet-wide.

I read often that the 717 is “quiet.” I don’t have sensitive hearing by any means, but to me it does get loud up there, so I have always opted to wear a lightweight noise canceling headset.

I don’t own one, but I think the expensive Bose ProFlight series might have a perfect application in the 717 because of the ability to flip ANR on and off depending on who you’re flying with.

I would give this a +1. I routinely clocked 77-82 decibels up front in the 717. Notably, periods of 80 decibels for 30 minutes or more is the mark where they say hearing damage can occur. It’s 85+ near the windows. Some ships were worse than others depending on the condition of the seals. More than a few times I wore ear plugs underneath the ship set. Some trips I would drive home in the car with no radio, I definitely felt noise fatigue. I just wanted quiet.

I don't fly the 717, so feel free to dismiss this. Putting aside the absoulte nastiness of common-use foam headsets (Ewww), I once had an opportunity to appreciate the difference from Bose PF2's and the ship set (Telex 750, I think). Long story why, but both the FO and I had to fly several legs with the ship set, immediately followed by a couple legs with Bose's on a 321 ('relatively' quiet). Holy cow, what a massive difference. The other pilot was much easier to hear with the Bose mic, no pop with every other breath into the ship set, etc. And the difference in how quiet the cockpiit was with the Bose was unmistakable. I could easily and clearly hear ATC (and the other pilot), but with the ship set I had to turn volumes waaaay up and still had trouble making out the radios.

You are about to enter a multi-million dollar career. Spend the $1000 bucks. It's worth every penny, IMO. And I guarantee your fellow pilots will appreciate it, especially if that fleet is using more and more hot-mic. FWIW, on the 320 fleet, literally almost no FO's use the ship set.

It’s good to see the trend of folks using their own headsets especially on the Bus. I worked at a carrier were almost no one brought a headset and we had Telex 750’s as ship sets. It was still loud and eventually I started bringing my own headsets.

One of the worst things a CA can say (for several reasons) passing 18: “Wanna go topless?”

No, I value my hearing, and that phrase is creepy old white man cringe.

Putting hot mikes on the 717 was a bad idea. You cannot use the yoke switch and have to reach down to the comm panel every time you want to talk with it.

Sounds like you need a rubber band! At least that was the 73 solution until all the comm panels were upgraded.