Hello! I don't know if anyone has brought this up before, but I'll take a stab at it.
Do GA pilots listen to music in the cockpit during flight? I figure that, with the workload a pilot deals with in general, listening to music while in flight would be a distraction. But, I really don't know. What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

Alan

C wrote on Feb 1^st, 2010 at 3:01pm:


Most of the aircraft that I have been around are setup up to interrupt the music anytime something is on the radio.  Of course I am sure there are some of the cheaper pilots out there who are just using a MP3 player and ear buds instead. 

DaveSims wrote on Feb 1^st, 2010 at 3:14pm:


Sounds a good system. I've never seen it over here, but then again due to our limited space, and consequently busier radios, you'd never hear much music.

There are certainly some places where it would and could have its merits.

As the others have said, there are plenty of headset or in-panel options to allow a CD or MP3 player to be played when there is no radio traffic.

I would never use a music system during IFR flight, and would only be willing to try a system once it was demonstrated to me that it is reliable, and then I would probably only use it on short VFR tours when I take friends up. 

I'd be leary of not hearing a subtle message from the engine.

I'd advise a PIC to not preoccupy any of his sensory input, nor add a distraction to the cockpit.

We're granted a great deal of leeway, as pilots. Gotta decide for ourselves what we should, and should not do.

That's just my opinion/advice. 

I've never listened to music while flying either R-W or in the sim. Too many things going on most of the time and when not, I'd rather listen to the radio chatter.

I've only experienced this once- in a Champ that actually had an XM radio receiver patched into the intercom. The PIC didn't monkey with it much at all- just turned it on and quickly adjusted the volume before we got going.
I didn't think I would enjoy it (always thought I was a purist about airplane noises), but I did.

  With only ordinary headsets and the music at a reasonable volume, I think we'd have noticed if the engine acted up. Of course, if the engine acts up in a Champ, you basically stop moving forward and begin descending immediately... a pretty strong hint.   

But I think with a good ANR headset, and of course the muting feature that interrupts music for all comms, it would not isolate the pilot much at all. Even better would be a system that ramps the music volume up and down in response to ambient noise level, as is done in many cars nowadays.

I've used ANRs only once, also- in a biplane. I was stunned at how the system squelched the wind blast and the loudest part of the exhaust note, but actually clarified the more subtle (and more important) sounds of valves, etc... and even the rigging sounds . It really seemed to enhance the ability to monitor the engine.

Another benefit: assuming, again, that the music is not too loud or harsh, listening to music, as opposed to the raw blat of the engine or a hushed version, is probably better for your hearing. More variety of frequencies. Music, listened to with headphones and with specific frequencies notched out, has been proven to diminish tinnitus in some studies... tinnitus is typically not so much damage to the working parts of the ear, or the nerves themselves, but a brain-function thing, a corruption of the wetware, so to speak.

I've gotten a speeding ticket, and even missed an exit; because I was listening to music while driving.. so I know that jamming to Tom Petty while flying an airplane is not for me. And I'd just as soon the pilot to me as a passenger not be doing it either.. 

Viper,

I don't think this ever turned into a shouting match or a typical online argument. You have nothing to apologize for, and I think that it was a very good and interesting question to ask.


I personally believe that I would have difficulty focusing on the expected tasks at hand in the cockpit with music playing, but that's just me.