FIREFLY AVIATION FLY750

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PRICE £79.99

YOU'VE just started flying and your instructor says you ought to purchase your own headset so you don't have to keep using the grungy ones in the flight school.

If you look through the brochures you'll see a huge range of types and costs. But one headset you won't have seen is Firefly Aviation's FLY750 model.

The FLY750 is currently only available to buy online for just £79.99 but the company is hoping to distribute them in pilot shops in the near future.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
TAKE Firefly's FLY750 headset out of its case bag and, surprise! It doesn't look like a budget headset. The build quality is superb and the modern grey colour scheme makes it stand out among the most expensive headsets.

The frame has a basic design but is adjustable and the soft gel ear seals felt great. Other budget headsets use inferior seals with a tough plastic feel but Firefly hasn't scrimped on this important part.

The fully flexible boom mic is of a standard not seen on a headset of this price before. As well as having a noise cancelling electret mic, there is also a knurled disc on the side of the ear cup that allows you to tighten or loosen the up/down positioning – nice.

The rotating black dial on the left ear cup controls volume and the one on the right selects mono or stereo. The lead is long enough and you can tuck it out of the way.

IN A CIRRUS
I CHOSE to wear the FLY750 for SUTTO (Start-Up, Taxi and TakeOff) and was surprised by the quality of the sound in the ear cups. Initially, the first and last words of my transmissions were being clipped out, but adjustment to the SR22's squelch soon had the problem solved.

Our pilot Russ Gordon was impressed by how clearly he could hear me. One important criteria often missed out on headset tests is how clearly you can hear yourself during transmissions, and I could hear my own voice extremely well.

For a budget headset, it certainly didn't look out of place in the glass cockpit interior of a quarter of a million pounds worth of aeroplane!

The noise level in the cockpit was considerably cut down when I removed and replaced the headset during flight. All you can hear is a faint low buzz of the engine.

IN A PA-28
THE PA-28 had a much older communications system with no squelch. Even so, I didn't have the same problem with clipped transmissions. Again the noise level was extremely impressive and I could hear ATC and myself very clearly.

There was a constant faint background hiss (due to the lack of squelch) but the same hiss was present in all the other headsets.

Even at the lowest volume setting, I could hear ATC fine and when I increased the volume, the distance I moved the dial matched the associated level of volume increase - a nice touch.

VERDICT

FIREFLY aviation is onto a winner with this headset. It's a prime example of how a good product needn't cost the earth.

As well as performing well, the FLY750 also looks the part thanks to a modern colour scheme, high quality materials and a boom mic not normally seen on a headset like this. Even the headset plugs are gold plated!

It's this quality and price that makes the FLY750 perfect for a student pilot, a weekend flyer or even as a spare set to fit out a four-seater aircraft. With a one-year warranty plus money back guarantee you can't go wrong.

FEATURES
Weight: 340g
Passive NR: 26dB
Active NR: na
Total NR: 26dB
Power source: na
Battery life: na
Auto shut-off: na
Microphone type: Noise-cancelling Electret
Mobile phone jack: No
Music interface: No
Warranty: 1 year
w. www.firefly-aviation.co.uk
 

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