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[Bacardi]

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[African Grey]

Hey Bacardi...
I'm pro the helmet thing for the following reasons..some work for all, some only for me.

1) Safety Aspect - Larry-Buzzcom will tell you of an incident in Mozambique where a disorientated pilot ended in a bush after a longer than normal "float" on landing. He walked into the prop (still spinning) with his head and survived.
Also fatality a number of years ago at Klipriver may have been avoided....solo student died from head injuries and his helmet was in the hanger...!
2) The shielding of the mic by hte visor reduces noise
3) Being able to where sunglasses comfortably
4) I found with training students, their periphal vision on landing is a lot less restricted
5) Keeps your dome and face warm in winter...

Happy Flying
Russ

[Bacardi]

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[DarkHelmet]

I "suffer" from 20/20 vision. The eyes are super sensitive and I fly with goggles rather than a visor. The "bleed" from a visor tends to irritate me more than the bleed from Goggles. Big D flies with a pair of Harley Davidson gogs that I am dying to try.

[African Grey]

mmmmm...maybe a helmet - no visor - using goggles instead would do the trick. ...

[KFA]

I just use sunglasses without probs.

[RudiGreyling]

I am pro helmet, and agree with reasons already stated. Safety, warmth, noise, specs/sunglases: One additional reason:

If you are on cross country and fly into unexpected bit of rain, drizzle. Helmet OK, open face gogles stings like crazy.

In my opinion the only thing going for goggles is price.

There is a saying going around our airfield, that when you are in an accident the docters can fix or amputate anything from the neck down, when it comes to your head it is a different story. Protect it!

Kind Regards
Rudi

[Biggles]

As students we are all required to wear a helmet with a full face visor, and thankful for it!! Early Cape winters mornings when you are battling to do radio calls because your lower jaw has gone numb from the cold and your feet are freezing from the soles up a helmet with a full face is a god send. Been up once with just glasses and the freedom of movement and periperal vision was great but after a while the wind on your face (good sunglasses so no wind in eyes) becomes distracting and I was longing for the snugness of a helmet. Also feel slightly exposed, like driving a car without the seatbelt on.

But I have sensitive eyes and since I discovered polariods I have not looked back... with a visor on though you get some interesting colours from light reflecting off water!! and the sky is rosepetal pink. Its also worth checking before take-off that you can still see all the digital displays.

[Bennie Vorster]

I'm pro helmet as well and when it gets to be winter in Newcastle I ware boyh the goggels and the helmet same time.

[alanmack]

I wear spectacles with vari-focal lenses. I learnt to fly in Durban where goggles are the norm. I encountered helmets in Gauteng and immediately switched to a helmet.

I found that even with the special goggles that are designed for people that wear glasses my frames would get stuck/wedged into the goggles causing them to pull forward or skew.

My helmets have a lock down clip at the top of the visor that prevents the visor from lifting. You can now get a “bib” for a helmet that in effect turns the helmet into the equivalent of a full face helmet. See the soon to be posted Sept Microflight Magazine on the Eclipso Topless Wing where Aidan of Solo Wings can be seen wearing a helmet bib.

After an incident in which my helmet strap clip came apart in flight I have added a safety strap using a plastic spring to my helmets that I bought at a hardware shop which was attached to a key ring.

Fly safely

[Perry]

Folks,

Apologies to all for the lengthy delay in posting - Safari to Africa, Trip to USA (including a day at Oshkosh) and building a new hangar have kept me from this forum - apart from enjoying freedom from flight in terrific conditions.

We undertake lengthy cross-country flight and often spend up to 5 hours per sortie non-stop at between 50 and 60 kts in our DTA with limited wind protection. We have found that conventional aviation gear such as headsets and bulky Communica Helmets result in substantial discomfort on long trips.

Comfortable headgear is paramount to enjoyment as well as safety where the pilot is less distracted due to comfort and clear communication adds to the confidence, especially in tricky conditions. Often the cost argument comes in (due to limited financial resources) however I seem to have justified it due to the overall cost of enjoyment.

Recently I have been trialing various combinations at great expense to self (and my aviator wife) and seem to have narrowed the field down to exceptionally comfortable (yet quite expensive options).

I have found that in our case, the touring motorcycle fraternity have employed the resources to come up with some fantastic innovation. We searched for an open-faced helmet option to ensure comfort with full visibility to enable aerial photography. Recently, one of the leading helmet manufacturers has just come to market with a winner - Nolan have now introduced the N42 - this is a significant improvement on the Nolan N41 where they have introduced a better faired helmet that is comfortable up to 200km/h on the open road for long period. The helmet has also been designed to accommodate a blue-tooth comms system and as such has the visor designed in an extended format to limit stray airflow and aid in-helmet comms. I have found that this presents a significant improvement on in helmet disturbance where I was frustrated with stray flow drying my eyes out! I found the helmet sits real snug and does not attempt to strangle you when you look around. The beauty is that we can get these for about Aus$250 (approx. R1000) each. This beats the fortune you have to part with for a BMW Motorrad Helmet.

I hear you say, what about those bulky earcups that is distinct with aviators? Well we did not test the Nolan Bluetooth Comms System (although it looks tempting). We actually lashed out big dollars for the Clarity Aloft Headsets fabricated by an Audioligist in Minnesota. The Clarity Aloft Headsets employ the CEPS Technology which consists of in ear transducers with disposable earplugs on the ends. Effectively it is an earplug transducer that uses the ear as the noise reduction system. The sound is great, attenuation incredible and comfort outstanding. Yep they cost approx. US$500 a pair but I doubt we will need another headset again.

This combo is what we have ended up with and our comfort levels are improved significantly.

If you need website references, just google up the respective words and you will get an overload of info.

Safe Flying

[Bacardi]

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