I don’t know if you use aviation specific noise cancelling headsets but I expect you do in order to connect correctly to the aircraft. If you have a choice of headsets, I’d suggest that they have large ear cups that seal well against your head rather than on the ear or in the ear. If around the ear is the type you have, take them with you to the audiologist when you are getting fitted to ensure that the headset doesn’t cause feedback with the aids. Good noise cancelling headsets with large cups rely on both passive and active noise reduction (good for use in aircraft like the noisy old UH-1N twin Huey military helicopter I used to fly long ago but they weren’t available then). I now use large cup closed back headphones over my ears with my Oticon Real 1 (previous generation to Intent) without feedback when riding in an airliner - makes thing much quieter
With aids, you may miss out on low frequency sounds (less than about 100 Hz) and high (above about 8 to 10 KHz) depending on the “receiver” (the speaker that creates the processed sound). Those “missing” ranges will probably not matter much for you but you might ask if you think you might need to hear them, especially the low end.
I expect a good audiologist can make some aid work appropriately for you. It may be a process where you have quite a number of adjustments to work things out.
Does your airline permit you to wear over the ear headsets? When I was flying corporate jets, we couldn’t wear the large over the ear cup headphones because they got in the way of being able to put on a quick donning oxygen mask. We wore the headset and boom mic that were thin and didn’t impede donning the mask.
Thanks for your feedback! I’m going to start with the Oticon Intent 1 for two weeks and then try the Phonak Sphere. Since I’ve never used hearing aids before, I might not like either of them or I might like both! I don’t really know what to expect, I’ve been watching Matthew Allsop’s channel lately since hearing aids and hearing loss have been my main focus recently.
Thanks again, Louie. I did watch the video you posted. I’m going to have to trust my HIS since he’s the expert, but I also think it’s important to educate myself on the matter. I’ll definitely share the video with him, and I’ll probably experiment to see what works best for me.
I use Bose A20 noise-canceling headsets, which have decent-sized cups not too large, but they seal well.
I hadn’t thought about bringing my headset to the fitting appointment, but that might be a good idea. I’m just not sure if it’s necessary for the first appointment or if it’s something to consider later in the process.
Ultimately, I want to hear as clearly as possible from the speaker so I can avoid wearing a headset for five hours straight. The only way to know for sure is to test them and see how they work in practice.
That’s interesting. Yes, we are permitted to wear over-the-head headsets by both Airbus and my operator. The quick-donning mask on the Airbus doesn’t interfere with the headset, so it’s not an issue for us.
By the way, I am surprised that pilots listen to air traffic controllers from a loudspeaker. I always thought that all communication—with air traffic control, the second pilot, and other planes—was through headsets and boom mics.
I assume you ment over the ear, not over the head. Is the Airbus equipped with the masks that are EROS oxygen masks. These are the kind that the rubber, elastic tubes inflate with oxygen when you grab the front of the mask to remove it from its storage compartment. Once you place the inflated tubes over your head, and release the two levers that you used to get the mask on your face, the oxygen is released from the elastic tubes, and they keep the mask on your firmly on your face.
We do wear headsets during critical phases of flight—on the ground, takeoff, climb, descent, approach, and landing. If the flight is under two hours, we usually keep them on the whole time. But on longer flights, once we’re settled in cruise for a few hours, we take them off and use the loudspeaker instead. It helps with comfort, especially on long-haul flights where we might be cruising for 3+ hours before starting our descent.
Sorry, I meant over the ear. Yes, the Airbus is equipped with EROS oxygen masks. It was an awesome experience trying it for the first time in the sim, the way it fits so snugly was interesting.
I assume, that when you donn the mask, you have to remove the noise canceling headset. Is that correct? Does the audio panel automatically switch to speakers when you select mic O2 mask microphone? My concern would be that your hearing aids would also get knocked off of your ears while putting on the mask. Then, that might affect your ability to hear ATC or the other pilot through the inter-phone over the loud speakers on the flight deck. I know a rapid or explosive decompression is a very, very, rare event, but even practicing in the flight simulator could knock your hearing aids onto the floor or under the seat. Just a thought.
That is correct! Mask first, then headset. And yes, the audio panel automatically switches to speakers when you select the O2 mask microphone. I’ll probably have to test it out in the sim—that’s the only way to know for sure how it affects my hearing aids. Definitely something to consider, especially in an emergency or even just during practice. Thanks for the thought!
I never wore an over the ear headset in the airplane because getting it off takes time. I once had a real rapid decompression in a Learjet 24D. We were just beginning our descent out of FL 410, when the front outflow valve went wide open. The cabin going up, didn’t hurt my ears too much. But when we got to zero diff, and the airplane was descending at approx 10,000 ft. per minute, that hurt my ears. I always wore a Plantronics headphones with a boom mic. I also had a student who was an audiologist. He made an ear mold that fit onto the headset. That way the boom mic was essentially attached to my ear at one end. I had both a left and right headset with its own molded ear piece. We swapped seats since we were all type rated and the Learjet didn’t require seat dependent training. Because we didn’t have anything like noise canceling head sets, I trained pilots in small aircraft without hearing protection. Now, I wear hearing aids for my higher frequencies deficits. Also, I haven’t flown a real airplane in a long time. I teach our simulator instructors in how to teach our customers in the various corporate jet full flight simulators.
Wow, I can only imagine what that must have been like, especially at FL410, where the time of useful consciousness is just 15–20 seconds. I’ve always wondered what that would feel like.
I was speaking with the aviation doctors at my company, and apparently, they’ll need to test the hearing aids in the sim before submitting the paperwork to Transport Canada.
Fascinating discussion and I wish you full success Ramzi.
I do not imagine that the battery capacity is an issue, however, if it is, I think in your special situation, the battery is the least of the issue, because you could probably invest in a second identical pair, and in a minute, the HIS could just duplicate the settings to that pair.
Not certain how it might slow down phone app operation… but I don’t think the phone is a big thing with you in the cockpit. Probably comforting to know, that just in case… you had a rapid replacement. I would only pair the one set with the phone. The Spheres charge in a few hours, so the occasional swap, would be short, just during charging.
Regarding losing your HAs… this is totally a shot in the dark, but one who has always dabbled in mechanical modifications of all sorts… if you cannot find a better idea… I imagine that you could have your ear lobes punctured… and there is probably way with a simple ear ring, or just the starter pins - whatever they are called… like when the lobes are healing… well you just need a way of clipping the long wire mold handle on the hearing aid to your ear’s ring.
The thing is that such a need is just Murphy’s Law protection. You can never be prepared enough for the unexpected. Thus my crazy suggestion.
I have no experience in your situation, but I do have some with the Phonak HAs and microphone combination. Your HAs/microphone set up is done once. After that it is just turn on the microphone and clip it on. There may be some minor tuning based on experience, but nothing requiring effort on the part of the mic user. As I remember, the literature on the microphone says to clip or hang it 8" or so below the user’s mouth. It preferentially picks up sounds from that direction. In my experience of walking with my wife in the wind, the mic does reduce wind noise while picking up speech. Not comparable to a cockpit, but for what it is worth.
