[R-390] Audiophools - hearing loss

[Joe Foley]

Imagine the poor B-25G pilot!

The 75mm cannon, the .50 cals just outside the cockpit
window and the ends of the props whopping by just a
few feet away!!

Golly what a ride!  I wish I could have,.........

Joe





--- "Gregory W. Moore" <gwmoore@moorefelines.com>
wrote:
> sorry, this should have posted to the list, but I
> only sent it back to
> the original sender (John KA1XC). I did, however
> want to show how
> insidious impulse noise hearing loss can be,
> especially for those who
> were doing loud stuff years ago and ear protection
> was simply not
> commonly worn It was available, but, for some as now
> forgotten reason,
> simply was not used.  Most important is the fact
> that one does not
> normally notice the loss until someone else (my XYL,
> in this case) told
> me I sounded like a teenager again, as I would have
> the radio in the car
> up so loud she could hear me coming blocks
> away.......hi
> 
> I am all too well aware of this "shooters notch"
> type of loss. A few
> years ago,
> I thought I had some sort of ear infection, as any
> sort of  "white (or
> close to
> white) noise would completely mess up my
> understanding of speech. Now,
> many more
> years before that, one commonly shot anything
> without ear protection.
> Being a
> pilot, I have also been exposed to many years of
> piston and turbine
> engines, up
> close and personal, and one didn't always wear ear
> protection.  The
> notch
> centers at about 4khz and is about 2 Khz on either
> side, and goes down
> about
> 30db or more. Since, I have had perforated eardrums
> on top of that, you
> have
> some idea of what one is dealing with.
> The interesting thing, is that when flying 
> aircraft, I was always able
> to
> normally communicate with any one else in the
> cockpit, without
> particularly
> feeling as though I was yelling. The one who "found
> me out" was the XYL,
> who
> said that if I had the radio in the car on, and the
> windows open, she
> could hear
> me coming from the next block.
> The point being, that stereo sound, or any sort of
> audiophool stuff is
> useless
> to me.
> I now use 2 sets of hearing protection (musicians
> plugs) and a muff when
> shooting, and religiously use my Dave Clarks, and an
> intercom, when
> flying. At
> this stage, I still don't use any hearing aid, but I
> probably should.
> One does
> learn the hard way LOL
> It, however does not seem to affect any type of
> either CW or voice
> copying on
> radio, either using speakers or headphones. Sure, I
> may have the AF gain
> up a
> little higher, and I have gone to headphones pretty
> much exclusively,
> but I
> don't have a problem understanding what is being
> said.
> 73 de Greg WA3IVX


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
http://sports.yahoo.com