Kill Bill wrote in news:nospam-
:

I have considered purchasing a pair of Active Noise Reduction headsets,
Bose or Sennheiser etc (haven't compared them yet). However, the chief
flight instructor at my school says that he doesn't recommend ANR sets
for trainee pilots, as it is important to learn to listen to and
recognise the different sounds emanating from the engine as well as the
rotor when flying. He feels that ANR Headsets might get in the way of
that.

What do you guys think about this? Are ANR headsets something only
experienced heli pilots should use, will they get in the way of learning
to "read" the sounds coming from a helicopter in flight?

I think he's full of crap, & hasn't used an ANR headset. You can hear
engine and rotor sounds just fine. That said, I don't use an ANR headset
because I think it's a waste of money in a helicopter, at least in a
turbine. Most of the noise is high-frequency stuff in a turbine, and the
ANR headset can't deal with that, and some of them have lower NRR for
passive use (and it's passive at high frequencies) than do many regular
headsets. I've used ANR, but went back to a custom-built passive. YMMV.

--
Regards,

Stan