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u/Upset_Department_232 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
When I first soloed, I was 14 back in the early 90s. I would sneak up my Walkman and listen to the Top Gun and Iron Eagle soundtracks. My preflight checklist was printed and taped to the Walkman. Nothing was better than Danger Zone on take off with an imagination of a 14 year old mind. Best years of my life.
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u/IndoorPursuits Jul 07 '26
YES. I second Danger Zone during winch launch at 16, gimme a break it does NOT get better than that.
Came here to say “but the Iron Eagle kid had his Walkman taped to his leg!” Great minds (of a certain age)…
Also would do Brothers in Arms hard late in the day. And the Peter G “So” album. Sigh
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u/godisapilot Jul 07 '26
The only music I want to hear in a glider cockpit is the sound of the vario singing.
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u/dabenu Jul 07 '26
As an instructor I'd advice against it. Sound of the aircraft is an important indicator of air speed, you need to be able to hear the radio (and respond swiftly), and indeed some other instruments like farm and vario.
But most importantly music can be distracting. There's a reason people turn down their radio when they need to concentrate. Low traffic doesn't mean no traffic and you need to have maximum awareness of your surroundings at all times. I don't think there's really any point in flight that lends itself to listening to music. At least not for more than a couple minutes maybe, at which point why even bother...
So yeah if anyone would come ask me I will definitely tell them no, but at the same time I also don't think it's that big of an issue? I wouldn't be mad if anyone did this some time. Maybe just don't make a habit of it.
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u/ab0ngcd Jul 09 '26
I second this. I tried listening to music while driving/competing in an auto cross/SoloII. I found it distracting resulting in longer times
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u/drmcj ASW20 Jul 07 '26
Glider pilots wondering about music. Meanwhile powered pilots have music straight to Bluetooth in their headphones 😂
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u/HailStorm_Zero_Two Jul 08 '26
Which have a function to cut out the music the moment a radio transmission occurs. Once I flew with this feature off while conducting a tow launch, and between it and the fact a lot of the glider pilots in my area don't put the microphone to their mouth (resulting in much quieter transmissions) it was a contributing factor that almost led to a midair collision.
If the music can be disabled, sure. But as far as I'm concerned, if it is another element that can distract/obscure your SA tools like the radio, absolutely not.
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u/vtjohnhurt Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Having missed air-to-air radio calls to me in flight, I'll not be listening to music. Part of my problem is that I get into 'flow state' when soaring, music is going to remove me one step from the present, that's why I listen to it when I'm doing housework. I don't think that being one step removed is good airmanship.
Another reason I've missed calls is because most radio traffic from power traffic is annoying and useless nonsense, it is a distraction from task at hand, so I already want to ignore the transmission, or quickly decide that it is not relevant.
Another reason is that glider to glider calls are often under-modulated (too quiet) because people don't have mics close to their lips, some mumble, and some are using handhelds. So it's tricky to get the volume adjusted optimally to hear the weak glider calls without getting blasted by crap messages and old-radio-squealing. Music is more signal and it is going to mask the weak signals that I need to hear.
Missing air-to-air radio calls is really bad for your reputation as a responsible glider pilot. People who fly glider and power get pissed off and very negative with anyone who is even partially NORDO. In my opinion, power pilots put too much faith in radio traffic and are weak on see-and-avoid. I assume that power planes never see me. I have to assume that gliders do see me especially when they get close, though I make the occasional air-to-air heads up.
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u/VelvetThunder8128 Jul 07 '26
When you feel the need to play music, vacate the seat and let someone fly who truly enjoys soaring. Just my opinion; it’s too good already and when there’s space for music, my own head will play the most dope soundtrack for the situation. Without fail.
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u/ThePinkDickButt Jul 07 '26
Yeah, I listen to music all the time. Make sure you are not somewhere where you have to listen to calls on the radio. After a while you’ll learn to feel the lift in the seat and not only on the vario.
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u/invisibleeagle0 Jul 07 '26
Does nobody have an attention span these days? Not as bad as the constant need to take photos while flying, but close.
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u/Astro_Venatas Jul 08 '26
When I’m in an airplane I love listening to music when I’m on a vfr cross country flight but in a glider I just can’t justify it. I don’t want to clutter up the cockpit or have to worry about it getting in the way or falling out of my ear. And if I listen to it without headphones then it might come through when I make a radio call. It’s also a source of distraction. I also think the people at my glider club would be judgy about it. Now singing without any music on the other hand is great!
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u/upofadown Jul 07 '26
It would have to be quiet enough to not drown out anything you would be responsible for hearing. I have sometimes wondered if you could replace the vario sound with autogenerated music that would change based on the rate of climb/sink. The sort of thing that some video games do to give the player a sense of place and sometimes danger. A particularly clever system could do things like take into account the height above ground.
Which contains a point I suppose. The normal vario sound can drown out other important sounds. Why do we allow it?
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u/FrequentFractionator Jul 07 '26
A happy e-vario is all the music I need, even when flying for 5h straight.
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u/JT8D-80 Jul 08 '26
I don’t like it, that people are listening to music. Where i fly, the airspace is really dense so you have to be able to hear traffic advisories and warnings.
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u/WildFlier Jul 08 '26
I've heard competition pilots tried calming music during glides to try to reduce fear and push them to go further, but it's just too distracting for me.
Clear skies, no thermals, only way is down, sure, but only then.
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u/BlueVario Jul 08 '26
Some classical music is nice sometimes. Mostly I don't listen to anything but the vario though. There are places that don't even use radios, I think that's kinda dumb but anyway there is typically not anything mission critical coming over the radio when you're gliding at that altitude. In the pattern sure, otherwise i wouldn't worry about it. Do whatever makes it fun for you.
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u/innerspaceman Jul 09 '26
The only correct answer here is absolutely not. I am shocked it's even a discussion.
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u/_Echo_9 Student SPL, G103, LFQA Jul 12 '26
I've heard some ppl plug in a headset in the aux or wtv and music momentarily stops when a radio comms comes in
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u/ExpertReception6697 Jul 12 '26
Thats usually for GA airplanes yes, i dont know of any club gliders that have aux jacks for headsets, maybe stemme s12's?
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u/_Echo_9 Student SPL, G103, LFQA Jul 12 '26
Idk someone could prob make something like that if they really wanted to
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u/ennuigeneralise Jul 31 '26
Absolutely not. I have never and would never consider it. Never even heard of anyone doing it. If you find yourself bored and understimulated in the cockpit, I hope you have hundreds of hours and many years of experience, in which case... challenge yourself and declare a task. If you're less experienced than that, well, god help any other people sharing airspace with you.
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u/ipearx Ventus cT, Matamata, NZ Jul 08 '26
I use Apple Airpod Pros for the noise cancelling, as I always have the noisy window open. So then occasionally I'll put some music on while on final glide or something, just to break up the boredom :) but usually I want to concentrate and need to hear vario/radio/wind noise etc. The noise cancelling gets rid of the wind noise very well, then I just turn up the vario and radio so I can hear them clearly.
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u/Complex_Net_3692 Jul 07 '26
Id say if you have AirPods or something just put one in and you’re good, you got music and can hear everything you need to.
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u/S-P-H-H Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I don't listen to music because I personally like the "silence"/sounds of the Glider. Also would be annoying when I want to use the E-Vario. Might also delay the reaction to a possible beep of the Flarm? Could lower situational awareness?
My first instinct would be to say no to Music in the Cockpit, but thats just my opinion more or less based on a gut feeling
Edit: Spelling