I was referring to what one of my pax has said about his perceived comfort in PA28 vs C172, his impression was that sitting on the wing was more comfortable as it looks natural like big aircrafts he got used in CAT while in a high wing aircraft you “seem hanged rather than sitting” 
But having a cushion in the seats like the one you show also helps (if you do 10h trips: you may need those “wood bead seat cushion” from the 80’s for your back)
Jujupilote wrote:
I will try an A20, but I am not sure it is a worthy investment to fly 50hrs/year.
Start with an empty bladder but stay hydrated, drink a little but regularly, before you feel thirsty. Don’t abuse landing beers after the last flight.
Protect from the sun (one reason I prefer a pa28/c172 over a da40). Keep the cabin well ventilated.
Autopilot, even just a wing-leveler on the HDG bug is such an offload.
Sleep good, learn your sleep need.
Tonight’s weather forecast is only an overall trend, don’t bother detail planning until tomorrow. Replanning is so easy nowadays with SD/GP/FF on an iPad, it really does not prevent me sleeping at night like it used to. Vertical slice and visual NOTAMs FTW.
Some of it also comes with experience.
As an update, I flew more than 5h the other day (as reported in my other thread) and didn’t feel fatigued. The intercom failed so I regularly removed my headset to talk to my passenger.
Guess why ? I didn’t use the ANR of my Sierra !
I had noticed with the ANR on, noise is reduced (not much) but a sort of high tone is produced. It is barely noticeable, but that was what tired me out.
Without ANR, it seems my ears and brain get used to the engine noise and do not care after some time (even without headset, noise didn’t sound too terrible). My dad tried my headset with and without ANR and confirmed this high tone with ANR. He flew his first hundreds of hours with no headset BTW.
At the end of the day, I think it depends on your personal hearing of low high freqs. But I think my next headset will be passive.
This is a common general issue with cheap ANR headsets. Not just aviation ones. They hiss, or whistle. I’ve had some.
Mine has had his main components replaced this winter. But not the ear seals.
The ones I had were all defective design so not repairable. One was a Bose one, non aviation, a few years ago, bough new and returned. But my Bose QC25, bought on Ebay a few years ago, is fine.
This is an interesting question to me as a long distance VFR pilot. My longest day ever in the PA-28 was Stockholm to Wellesbourne (UK) in 10 Hrs, with two stops. Approaching home base in the dusk, I became aware of dozens of specs on the horizon that turned out to be a Notam’d balloon rally, right across my path. Their timing was the same as mine, to land before dark, and so they were all descending through my level and right on my course, spread out over maybe 5-10 miles. It might be a measure of fatigue that it took me a moment or two to work out the best route through this aerial minefield!
That was some time ago and I’ve thought that with increasing age, these long days are a thing of the past. Until one morning last month when, delayed by weather near St. Louis, Missouri, I decided to make a break toward distant Wyoming in two 3 Hr legs. Landing on the second leg in North Platte, Nebraska I released that I had time, fuel and above all the stamina to reach my ultimate destination, Laramie, Wyoming, landing after 9.5 hrs and at around 6pm feeling completely ‘on the ball’.
Two factors IMHO made this very long day comfortable:
a) The quiet plains of the Mid West, with wonderful co-operative ATC, flight following and airports with no hassle factors.
b) The wonder of Foreflight and it’s cell phone based weather radar. This last especially important since there is bound to be different weather over long distances, and the ability to see weather cells forming far ahead allows adjustments to the route in good time and with no stress factor. Constant visibility of actuals at the destination and possible alternates further reduces tension, knowing rather than guessing what the weather is going to be further on.
The time not to do this, again IMHO, is not when the destination is in chaotic UK airspace and at a belligerent UK airport. You know who you are!
Hi,
I have some problem with ears, tinnitus and hyperacousis, and i recently fly with Lightspeed Zulu plus some ear mold “Passtop N3” (made for industry), i didn’t fly recently for long hours but i think it is a good combination.
ANR do help for low frequency but create some high frequency noise ( for me more in the bose than the lightspeed).
With this in ear mod, it block the high frequency easily. The downside i have to turn the volume quite full to listen good the radio.
Certainly, wearing earplugs, and turning up the volume, is a very good old way to create a “low cost ANR headset”
My view remains that the Bose A20 is the one to go for; too many people struggle with the stuff below it. And the whistle, so common to ANR headsets, is just a design defect which is completely unacceptable.
I have an old David Clark with an ANR retrofit (needs 6 AA batteries) – the main issue of the DC is the clamp style headset, OTOH they are pretty reliable (mine is 20 years old plus). I don’t fly more than five hours in a typical day, but the clamp style can require stamina to endure.
When flying with pilots using Bose 20 (very comfortable, once used them on an eight hour day), I notice they must need some adjustment on audio as some pilots miss ATC calls. What might cause this, the audio control unit has its own squelch?
