Recreational Flying 250 Headset

[Guest pelorus32]

This headset comes in a neat and simple white box - no wasted packaging here. Inside it's packed within a simple Ziploc bag and the cord's tied together with a simple re-usable cable clip. It looks simple and smart.

 

So why would I bother with this headset? Headset's are a dime-a-dozen. who needs another headset? Read on and I'll explain.

 

Delivery, Versions & Installation

 

 

 

 

 

 

You already know what's in the box. What I haven't told you is that this is a good looking headset. It's a nice mid-blue colour - much better than another maker's hospital green standard and in my view preferable to black.

 

The cords and plugs look nice and robust and overall it looks the goods.

 

Features

 

Let's not beat around the bush. A number years ago the original David Clark patents came to an end and a raft of imitators sprang up. The recreational flying headsets are David Clark H10-13.4 clones. The cups look as though they came out of the same mould as the DCs - except for the colour - and the rest of the headset is remarkably similar. One thing that stands out over the DCs is that these headsets come with gold plated plugs to ensure a better connection with your radio/intercom system.

 

The question then is why wouldn't you just buy the DCs? To answer that question I engaged the services of my local check captain - you know the woman who sits in the right hand seat and checks on what you are doing including the expenditure. In my case the check captain is sensitive to noise and vocal on the subject.

 

We went flying with 3 headsets: Our usual DC H10-56HXLs the spare set of DC H10-13.4 and the Recreational Flying headset. We assessed the Recreational Flying headset against the DC H10-13.4 on the basis of:

 

• Comfort;
   
   
  
• Noise attenuation;
   
   
  
• Audio and microphone performance; and
   
   
  
• Build quality.
   
   
  

 

 

Comfort.

 

The headset is very comfortable to use and have gel filled seals. These are very effective - at least as good as the DC ones and they certainly sealed around a bulky set of sunglasses. The headset is comparable to the DC H10-13.4 in weight and the headband sits well and is easily adjustable. The mic arm is of the flexible type and it took a little getting right - it didn't quite want to go where it was wanted at first. It didn't take long to get it sitting just right however. As far as comfort goes this headset is as good as this style of headset gets and as good as gel seals get on a hot day.

 

The check captain has a small head and as all my friends tell me I have a large head! We both managed to make the headset fit well without any pressure points or hotspots. However we did notice that on both this headset and the DC H10-13.4 we had to work a little to make our ears fit in and the check captain had to stow her earrings in the flight bag! This isn't the case with the larger DC ANR headsets which appear to have slightly larger ear cups. This is not an insurmountable problem but if you look like Mickey Mouse you should check out all of the smaller headsets for fit before you buy.

 

Noise Attenuation.

 

This is a matter of interest for me. I like to fly in peace and quiet, as does the check captain. We found that subjectively this headset was at least as good as the DC H10-13.4 at keeping the noise out. We didn't have the complex tools to measure but we suspect that it is in fact a little better than the DC H10-13.4. The Recreational Flying headset reports a passive noise reduction of 26db where the DCs report only 23db. It isn't in the class of the bigger, heavier H10-56HXLs but nor should it be, they are a very specialist and expensive headset. Our assessment is that in this class of headset the Recreational Flying headset performed well.

 

Audio and Microphone Performance.

 

This is simple, the audio was well up to standard, speech was crisp and clear and the volume controls worked as advertised. The microphone was also very crisp and clear. We suspect that the mic is ever so slightly less sensitive than the DC mics but that could just have been the aircraft intercom with unmatched headsets. We found that we had to adjust the squelch slightly and the problem was solved. The spoken word was not overlaid with cockpit noise or interference so the mic was doing its job.

 

Build Quality.

 

This headset looked perfectly good in this regard. Of course the proof of the pudding is in the flying. It may be a little more delicate than the legendary DC build quality, then again that wouldn't be hard. Everything looked robust enough for the job and everything fitted together well. Time will tell and with a 1 year return to base clean swap warranty these headsets are well supported.

 

Summary

 

So back to our question: if this is a clone why wouldn't you just buy the DC? Well my answer is this: this headset has a lot going for it. In all the areas of usability and comfort it seems to be right up there with the DCs, perhaps even a smidge better in sound attenuation. I didn't pull the electronics out and check them over but if their performance was anything to go by then they are perfectly well made. In terms of longevity, everything seemed to point to a well made headset and only time will tell.

 

There's a lot to like about this headset, not least its noise attenuation performance and its price. You could buy a couple of the Recreational Flying headsets for less than the price of the equivalent DC. If I wanted a passenger headset I'd be on to these in a flash.

 

Likes

 

• Comfort;
   
   
  
• Noise attenuation;
   
   
  
• Comfort;
   
   
  
• Audio and microphone performance;
   
   
  

 

 

Wish List

 

• A headset bag - but then again at the price you should provide your own;