So with the planning and all for next summer's big adventure, I'm trying to get everything together so when the time comes, I'll be ready. Some of it's rational; some of it's a bit ahead of itself, but I figure it'll need to be done anyway, so why not? It'll keep.
One thing on my mind was that this time around, I wanted to have my own headset. In my previous training, I used the headset my instructor kept in the airplane. It was a set of these. They were built like a tank and as reliable as you'd ever want. But they had miles on them, and did they ever get heavy after a while. By the end of a lesson I wondered if my neck, or my spine, had been compressed. Not to mention, while they were handy, I wasn't crazy about wearing the very headset that accommodated so many other heads during the day. Especially on hot, sweaty, sticky days of the sort we have during the summer.
So that started some explorations, and I thought about various and sundry options. My years in radio made me very familiar with this company, and I seriously toyed with getting this unit. Other times, I thought of staying with what I knew and had worked with. Oddly enough, I never really looked into an active noise reduction headset. I knew it was a big thing (and a friend of mine who was headset shopping about the same time really vetted the offerings there and loves hers), but I had no real desire for an ANR headset -- and, really, I didn't have the budget. Now, while I won't fly commercial without my set of these, when I'm at the controls the passive units work just fine for my purposes, and I want to stick with those for a while. Down the road, should I want one, I can always get a fancier headset. But, for now, keep it simple and affordable.
I put all this off while the aspirations were in deep-freeze. But after last weekend, and after finding out that at least one flight school I'm considering requires you to buy your own headset and the other charges you for a rental -- and after realizing it's just a good investment, period, if you intend to have a license -- I decided it was time to go shopping again. And, again, I went through the whole thing. I read hundreds of reviews, conducted all kinds of searches. And it's a little frustrating because people very much like what they like, and what works for them may not work for you. I talked with hubby, who is knowledgeable in the ways of aircraft electronics, and he provided sound advice (no pun intended). I sort of decided on one, kept searching eBay for one, and at least once came within a single click of buying a used headset.
But after a lot of homework, and after a lot of thinking, I decided. I figured that any headset I'd buy needed to be sturdy, because I want it to last. I wanted to know that customer service wouldn't be a worry. I wanted something that got high ratings from a good cross-section of users. I wanted something that I knew from experience would be reliable. I wanted something that had a reputation for being reasonably comfortable. And, most of all, I wanted something that would be a good investment -- not something to just see me through flight training, but something I could use for years and years. And I wanted to buy it new, with no "what-if" factors. I didn't want to save $100 or $200 on a headset in an online auction only to have it be a turkey or face the slim chance it's stolen goods. I wanted to spend the money and buy new so I could get it right the first time. After all, it's an important investment with direct safety implications.
And, thus, a couple nights ago, I found what I wanted at the right price, and put in an order for a brand-new set of these. The funny thing? The first time around, it was the headset I'd pretty much decided on...and that was before I'd done this kind of extensive research. They're not the fanciest or the most stylish, nor are they the lightest or the least expensive. But I bought them knowing that if I did, the quality and reliability of my headset would never be an issue. (There's also the space geek thing: If what they built was good enough for NASA, it should serve my needs just fine.) I bought them as a careful, conscious investment in my future.
It'll be a while before I can use them; there may be a chance soon to at least try them out in their intended environment, since I'll be taking a sample lesson with each flight school to see which one will work best for me. But at least I now have my own headset, and even up on a shelf in my closet for the next little bit, they will remind me of better times and better things that are to come, and they're a promise to myself. And, be the Good Lord willin', they'll become a familiar part of my life sooner rather than later.