Steve – I tried the A20’s on last week when I went for a flight in a Cirrus. They were perfectly comfortable so I have no concerns there and I am reassured by the positive things that I read.
I would have liked to try the Lightspeed sets but the only stockist in the UK from the looks of the Lightspeed website is Pooley’s which is 40 miles away at Elstree, nothing very local to me so I’d have to find a good few hours to go down there. Having already tried the A20 I thought I might just as well go that way. I’m sure the Lightspeed sets are very good though – I watched a few YouTube videos and those that have them praise them.
Also, If I don’t make it through the PPL I would think that the BOSE set might hold it’s value more as it appears to be that much more popular!
Bose are not suitable for lending to, ahem, other people 
For your personal use, they probably are the best.
StumblingTrout wrote:
I’ve just ordered some Bose A20’s… I was drawn to the Lightspeed Tango and Lightspeed PFX but there just isn’t enough people out there saying good things in comparison to the number of people that rave about the BOSE.
Just as a point of interest, did you actually try the headsets on your head before buying? That would have been my recommendation – find the set which fits YOU best.
I went to a local stockist and tried them on for size. Dave Clarks clamped my head too tightly, Bose seemed a little – fragile, is what I thought by handling them, Sennheisers appeared to perch on my head whereas the Lightspeed Zulus fitted wonderfully and I still don’t regret ordering them. Better still, Lightspeed have an excellent reputation concerning repairs, even out of warranty whereas Bose have a reputation as being a bit of an obnoxious unit when repairs are concerned….
Still using my Lightspeed Zulu 2, see no reason to upgrade them either….
I’ve just ordered some Bose A20’s… I was drawn to the Lightspeed Tango and Lightspeed PFX but there just isn’t enough people out there saying good things in comparison to the number of people that rave about the BOSE.
Went for the BT version as assume this links in to the IPad for audible notifications.
2.4% cashback through Quidco at Bose so should get £24 back. Every little helps…
Peter wrote:
Sure, but a PPL student is not likely to be learning the full depth of a GNS GTN or G1000 box.
Ok. But to compare like with like, a PPL student does not need the full depth of SkyDemon either to follow the magenta line only. And airspace visualization with the virtual radar on SkyDemon is much more intuitive than on the Garmin boxes.
Sure, but a PPL student is not likely to be learning the full depth of a GNS GTN or G1000 box.
Peter wrote:
Having flown with a number of pilots who use Skydemon, I would say the app’s config is nontrivial and there are a number of key concepts which need to be absorbed otherwise one will get into a real mess with it.
Maybe, but that applies by an order of magnitude more to any of the usual Garmin gear. Spend that half day getting up to speed with a knowledgable instructor on how to use your GNS 430 or G1000. Compared to that, SkyDemon is a no-brainer, IMHO. And it’s much harder to figure out the Garmin stuff on the ground by yourself, even though of course there are manuals and simulators available.
Peter wrote:
To understand these apps in detail it helps to have an IT background, especially a “computer user interface”
I’m a software test & release analyst so with a bit of luck I’ll have half a chance then!
Having flown with a number of pilots who use Skydemon, I would say the app’s config is nontrivial and there are a number of key concepts which need to be absorbed otherwise one will get into a real mess with it.
We have many examples on this forum of SD issues, including one very recent one where a long-time SD user was using a misconfigured SD to look at some airspace. To understand these apps in detail it helps to have an IT background, especially a “computer user interface” and “database” background. EuroGA has a strong contingent of IT professionals so they don’t have an issue with it, but the PPL population at large is more varied. I have been in electronics since the 1970s and don’t find the operation of these programs fully obvious. SD especially is highly feature-packed; a legacy of its development process which involved a near-fanatical following on one UK site and the resultant packing-in of most feature suggestions.
Of course it is very possible that the instructor charging for this ground school doesn’t understand it either and is just presenting the top level functionality… I went on such a course on the then new Honeywell GPS units many years ago and it was a waste of money.
But if the instructor understands it in depth, including the specific issues which confuse people (especially people used to nice clear printed charts), it’s worth doing.
Patrick wrote:
On the other hand, as much as I appreciate the open-minded attitude of your school. If you have to pay for that half day of “training” for an introduction to SkyDemon.. Better invest that portion of your money elsewhere. That is not an item – in my view – that needs to be trained with an instructor. There’s more important things to train for during your very, very limited time training. SkyDemon can be tested for 30 days, can be used in an offline simulation mode and is very well documented and in many aspects self explanatory once you’re on top of your flying.
Good point, and if I start using the app early on I would probably pick most things up throughout the course of my training. It’s nice to know the option is there though if I feel like I need it. They didn’t say what the cost of the session would be.
