Someone mentioned that several of us on here have biplanes and talked about starting a thread on the subject. Great idea! I thought about initiating a thread at that time, but wanted to wait until I had something interesting or substantive to report.

Now I do.

I brought my 1940 Waco home to Texas from Virginia last Spring. The ownership experience has been great - and learning to fly it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my flying career. It is a beautiful work of art and I love how much awe and passion it inspires in total strangers everywhere I go.

But...a continual frustration for me was the cockpit noise. I fly it out of a busy urban area in DFW and need to use the radio to work tower and approach control - but this was a continual challenge because the wind and engine noise seemed to drown out the radio. Turning up the volume led to distortion which garbled the words and led to misunderstandings or frequent "Say Again?"s. I looked at avionics boosters to get the radio louder inside the David Clarks, but hadn't pulled the trigger.

Good thing. Dave Hirschman had a writeup in a recent issue of AOPA Pilot on this subject and recommended a product offered by a small company in Alabama called Communications and Ear Protection (CEP). They can be found at http://www.cep-usa.com.

Send them your headset and for $95 they will install a jack in the side of the right earcup. They send it back, along with a small split cord that contains foam earplugs on the split ends and a male jack plug on the other. A pic is below so you can see what I'm talking about. Twist the foam earplugs, put them in your ears, plug the other end in the jack, put on your headset and away you go. You have an additional layer of ear protection through the earplugs and the radio and intercom communications are piped straight into your ear rather than through the earcup.

BIG difference. I've flown with the setup a couple of times and it dramatically reduces the ambient noise and greatly improves my ability to hear and understand the controllers. I actually use flight following now and request clearances through the Bravo...activities I'd avoided before because of the noise.

If you're having problems with the noise, but love your biplane, give these guys a shot. Fairly inexpensive as airplane products go and really a big help on the ears.

Cool CK. Any idea if they can do this to a Bose or Lightspeed headset?

I *believe* the kit is for non ANR headsets, including sets mounted in helmets. I've found ANR sets don't work in my biplane - I guess the wind buffet overwhelms the noise attenuation system.

But probably worth a call to the CEP guys to see if they have something that works on the ANR sets.

One day I will contribute here. Next 2nd plane is a Bipe ,,I hope.
MC

CK,

Thanks for the Pirep on the headset solution!

I, too, own a Waco but mine is a Waco Classic. Like CK I have found it enormously fun to fly and a magnet for kids of all ages. Our hangar is next to the street and invariably whenever I open the doors or pull the plane out people stop, take pictures and ask questions. We had a cars and planes night for the Oklahoma Pilots Association last fall and I nearly didn't get to eat! I have heard lots and lots of stories about "the old days" biplane flying and such as a result. Those experiences all by themselves are priceless.

CK, I had the same issue with cockpit noise. In fact on the ferry flight from Arizona a couple of years ago I could hardly hear controllers at all. I discovered that ANR headsets are just about worthless.

The guy we bought the Waco from and a friend who flew a Boeing biplane (aka Stearman) swore by the helmets they purchased from Campbell Aero Classics in New Zealand. They are custom made and the headset is built in. They are expensive at about $1,400 but when you consider the cost of a good ANR set it puts that in perspective. I also sat in the cockpit and contemplated what would happen to my head if it hit the windshield frame. That was enough.

As someone once said "if you've got a cheap head buy a cheap helmet"!

Anyway, the helmet, since it is custom made, fits perfectly and is very comfortable. They made the cord on the right sight which is where my head phone jacks are, and the thing is cooler than a canvas helmet in summer and warmer than a leather one in winter. AND I can hear perfectly well!

The Campbell's are very nice people and are generally at OSH every year. Their website is:

http://www.campbellaeroclassics.com

Now, can anyone tell me where to get some jodphurs?

I use the same earplug/speaker things under a Gallet helmet while spraying. It works great, but I'm still on the lookout for a mic that can stand the intense noise.

As for ANRs in open pit planes:

I have flown with the Telex Strata 50 fitted in a cloth helmet in my partner's Stearman. He experimented with several headsets and found this to be the best. IME, it worked very well.

Glad you're having fun CK!

Tony...I kind of fell in love with your helmet when I saw it a few months back. Very cool.

Mine should be here by March.

The correct address is www.cep-usa.com

Thanks, Charles. [I corrected the link in my original post.]

CK,

An ANR add on the my Dave Clarks works fine in my Pitts but I have a canopy. Even with the ANR, however, the ANR functions can be defeated by the noise levels in the cockpit. Your headset setup looks pretty intriguing.

Building a Skybolt. 2016 is target completion.

Saw the movie The Great Waldo Pepper at an early age. I was hooked.

Wings built. Base fuselage built. Working on outfitting the fuselage with all the accessories. Lots of pictures, but I'll post just one - the day we got 'er up on the gear for the first time.

Does anyone here have experience with a Great Lakes ?

http://www.ps-engineering.com/pm1200.shtml
special intercom for open cockpit aircraft..... Mark always has a solution!

I have not flown one. Yet.

Waco Classic is manufacturing new ones based mostly on the old type certificate. Peter Bowers at WC probably knows as much about the type as anyone. He's a great guy and would suggest talking to him.

It's a beautiful biplane. Light, quick, aerobatic. Not as comfortable as a Waco but not built for the same purpose.