FlyingJman

New-ish guy on the guppy... seems about 1/2 of the captains I fly with use headsets. I use a Bose noise cancelling headset, which works great with the guys that also wear something... the ones that don't are sometimes really hard to hear. Anyone else think the same thing? I just flew a 1 day turn with a guy who I could barely hear mumbling over there in the left seat. I brought my concern up to him repeatedly... but it was like pulling teeth to get him to speak up.

I've looked in the SOPs for something addressing the use of hot mic... I couldn't find anything... am I missing it? This seems like it's potentially a safety issue. I certainly felt my ability to be fully aware of what was going on was affected during the flight with my quite talker. Thoughts?

cadetdrivr

File an FSAP.

The guppies are both noisy and lack the voice-activated intercom that is pretty much standard in light aircraft these days.

If nobody documents the issue, it's not really an issue.

FlyingJman

*quiet talker

M5000

I'm really surprised at the number of pilots I see not wearing a nice over the ear noise canceling headset, like a Bose, on the 737 fleet.

Maybe they're trying to avoid the dent in the top of the head that I've developed.

jsled

We all flew the 727s and old thunder guppies with earpieces for years. Nobody wore headsets. It was terrible. LOL. I used to tell guys "If you want me to hear what you're saying, you're gonna have to talk/yell a helluva lot louder that that!" I don't know what else to tell you. You will find no mandate in the FOM other than boom mics below 18K as far as I know. I finally broke down and bought some DCs. LOVE THEM.

Sled

ReadyRsv

Honestly UAL needs to spend the money and buy every pilot a nice ANR headset. Hearing loss is no joke. It's seriously difficult to put up with cockpit noise for 12 hours. Hell I lose my voice half my trips because I have to sit there and yell at the other guys all day just so he can hear me.

WHACKMASTER

Flew the Guppy at AirTran for 7 years and we NEVER used the hot intercom. I KNOW I have some hearing loss because of it. Fortunately at SWA everyone and I mean EVERYONE uses the hot intercom. Thank goodness.

We don't all use the same headset per se, but we all use the hot intercom and that means I can keep both of my ear cups on. Surprisingly, the Telex 850 I used to wear at AT was LESS comfortable than my Bose A20s that I wear now.

The OP has legitimate concern. Flying the Guppy w/o ear protection will result in hearing loss.

Winston

Having to shout configuration changes in heavy rain and trying to copy clearances south of the border sent me back to my trusty Bose after my first few months in the 737.

How do you know it's gonna be a pleasant trip? When you see the other guy plug in his headset and ask, "So, are you a headset/rubber-band type guy?"

AllenAllert

It's not a matter of that's the way we always do/did it. You'll notice that most guys don't want to use the Dave Clark head clamps and most don't want an ear dick in the ear all flight. Most guys will take the ear piece and mic off at 18,000 - which is ok with FOM.

Maybe a good ear cleaning is in order. You may want to keep asking "what" when flying with a "low talker" but when you wear a headset that decreases his volume it's your fault not his.

Some of the dumbest one sided conversation I've ever heard on ATC have been the result of a hot mic - don't see a real need.

APC225

It's getting worse than inconvenient. It can seriously degrade CRM. Everyone should have one, but you can't require someone to pay $1000. The company should pony up with this. The new 737s (the ones with two cockpit jump seats) even have a non-spring loaded IC button so you don't need a rubber band. The comm issue can get compounded with having to talk above noise and the NR.

PF no NR headset: "flaps one"
PM w NR headset: "what?" pulls ear cup off
PF no NR headset: "flaps one"
PM w NR headset: "ok, flaps one" puts ear cup back

PF no NR headset: "flaps five"
PM w NR headset: "huh?" pulls ear cup off
PF no NR headset: "flaps five"
PM w NR headset: "ok, flaps five" put ear cup back

PF no NR headset: "gear down, flaps fifteen, landing checklist"
PM w NR headset: "what was that?" pulls ear cup off
PF no NR headset: "gear down, flaps fifteen, landing checklist"
PM w NR headset: "roger" puts ear cup back

PF no NR headset: "flaps thirty”
PM w NR headset: "eh?" pulls ear cup off
PF no NR headset: "flaps thirty"
PM w NR headset: "ok" puts ear cup back

PM w NR headset: "1000”
PF no NR headset: "set missed approach altitude, cleared to land"
PM w NR headset: "set missed approach altitude?"
PF no NR headset: "yes"

At some point a fed is going to observe this process and give the company a choice: either no NR below 10,000 or buy everyone a NR headset. It's easy to predict which way the company will go.