Head set location

[nosubt2]

Looked over the beautifully designed panels but did not see where the headset plugs were located.
Where are the best location for the headset plugs???
Mark

[efwd]

Some are getting the headset jack wells and placing them in the side wall of the center console. Others, like myself, have put the jacks through the luggage bag immediately inside the triangle windows behind the pilot and or the copilot side. I fashioned up an aluminum plate that mounted to the air frame then installed the wiring. I then used a solder iron and burned holes through the luggage bag, inserted the limo plugs and made a plate from aluminum that I painted up and labeled. The only thing holding the cover plate on is the retaining nut that holds the limo connector in.

[av8rps]

I put my headset jacks behind me in my Model 4, and regret it because they are hard to access in flight.

So my advice is to make sure you can reach the jacks easily if you have to get at them while in flight. The console idea mentioned sounds like a great location to me as that keeps the cords between pilot and passenger and not between the door and the occupants,

[airlina]

Never liked cords laying everywhere in the cockpit, so I mounted my jacks behind me ( see pic) and for 16 years this has worked well , keeps the cord out of the way. On a side note I recently found a cheap way to have a bluetooth headset without spending $1000 bucks on a new headset. My old DRE headsets have worked fine except I could never get audio from my navigation tablet- Obstacle warnings and now with ADSB traffic alerts. Tried many things -earbuds that plugged into the tablet with the buds in the headset earphones-FAIL, 1/8"plug from tablet into music input of my intercom-FAIL (not enough volume) This little gizmo called a bluetooth receiver cost about 20 bucks on amazon and plugs into my music input and all of a suddden my headset is bluetooth capable to my tablet-volume is great and I now can pick up the warnings as well as music. A great low cost solution. Bruce N199CL

[Dave S]

I had to chuckle at the name of the thread........Normally my headset location is on top of my head;)

Seriously, most rental planes I previously used had the plugs on the bottom of the panel on the outside edges of the panel near the door and I though that was the worst place - cable gets in the way for just about everything.

Put ours in the baggage bay; and, that makes it really nice to keep the cables out of the way; but, it is not too good if a person has to mess with the plugs while in flight.

Often though how it would work in the center on the console.

[Maverick]

In my first KF5 build, I put the jacks behind the seats. I fashioned aluminum plates that fit over the area forward and outward of the baggage compartment similar to what others have described (airlina) however, I put the pilot jacks behind the passenger seat and the passenger jacks behind the pilot seat. This way, if you do have to fumble with them you can reach back and across to the jacks rather than trying to reach over your shoulder. A turn of the head to right and you can see the jacks (vice versa for the left). Trying to reach your right hand over your left shoulder during flight might compromise your left arm's ability to maintain good control while you are fiddling with the jacks. This keeps cords out of the cabin and makes it easy to manage the plugs. Not sure I'm making sense but, this is what I am doing with the current build as well since it worked well the first time.

airlina, I would like to hear more about that blue tooth solution mentioned. Maybe a new string so it doesn't get buried?

[Dave S]

Maverick,

Your description is exactly what I should have done. How I screwed myself is I put the pilot's jacks behind the pilot's seat.:o I mean the cords are out of the way but I have to make real sure all my fiddling with the jacks is done before firing up.

[DesertFox4]

On my model 4, I put both pilot and copilot jacks behind the copilots head. No way to reach behind you if headset, headset jacks or wires fail or like in my case, the pilot push to talk switch failed while landing at a control towered airport. I quickly moved my headset jacks into the copilot’s set and used the copilot push to talk switch to get on the ground without needing the tower’s light gun signals.

Never liked the panel jack locations. My 7SS project headset jacks are in the center console sides. After flying a couple of DesertFox 1’s aircraft with jacks mounted there, it was an easy decission. No wires coming over your shoulders from the bagage area anymore. YMMV.

[airlina]

In my first KF5 build, I put the jacks behind the seats. I fashioned aluminum plates that fit over the area forward and outward of the baggage compartment similar to what others have described (airlina) however, I put the pilot jacks behind the passenger seat and the passenger jacks behind the pilot seat. This way, if you do have to fumble with them you can reach back and across to the jacks rather than trying to reach over your shoulder. A turn of the head to right and you can see the jacks (vice versa for the left). Trying to reach your right hand over your left shoulder during flight might compromise your left arm's ability to maintain good control while you are fiddling with the jacks. This keeps cords out of the cabin and makes it easy to manage the plugs. Not sure I'm making sense but, this is what I am doing with the current build as well since it worked well the first time.

airlina, I would like to hear more about that blue tooth solution mentioned. Maybe a new string so it doesn't get buried?

Done Maverick , Bruce

[aviator79]

Mine are behind the shoulder, like in Airlina's picture. I have only rarely had to fiddle with the headset plugs in flight, but I suppose it's a legitimate consideration. The center console is a great idea, but I would mock something up where you can test the location before you get too far. There's not much space between the pilot's right leg and the center console, and the housings on headset plugs can be a couple inches long. Make sure that those plugs end up aft and low enough that they don't interfere with your leg.

I do think we should find whomever made the standard location the bottom outboard panel and shoot them. I can think of only a few poorer choices.

[DesertFox4]

Here is the insert that is used when mounting in the center console. The jacks are recessed and do not stick out into the pilot and copilot’s space. I’ve flown several local Kitfoxs and am flying with this jack setup and find it the best of all the locations yet. It’s been the go to location on several of our local Arizona built Kitfoxs in the last five years or so. Using it again in my 7SS project. You can acess both jack locations pretty easily from either seat in flight if a quick headset switch is needed. Placing in this location kind of depends on how much stuff a builder has crammed into the center console. Two versions available at Aircraft Spruce.

[aviator79]

Here is the insert that is used when mounting in the center console. ..

That's perfect. I did LEMO plugs, but it would not be too difficult to fabricate something. If I were to do it over, I'd do that.

[rosslr]

Here is what did. ligthspeeds with lemo plugs - cable tied the controllers up the top just forward of head so i can see to adjust if needed. you can see there is sufficient chord to run it backwards and then down with the fuel lines so there is no chord in front of me. I store the headsets in the little pockets in the luggage container. I hated having all the chords around my knees in other planes! And wiring with a lemo plug means I need no batteries for the noise cancelling.

cheers

r