There is little doubt headset technology has made flying much more comfortable. But compare the noise level in the cockpit of a late-model four-place airplane to that of new four-place car and the difference is dramatic. Headsets do help, but…
Bill Nash, CEO of Super Soundproofing, sent me a helpful link to his Soundproofing Aircraft Cabin Booklet. True, Bill sells soundproofing material, but for anyone in the process of building or repairing or annually maintaining an airplane, his booklet is worthy of a read.
For example:
“Each aircraft has its ‘hot spots.’ That’s certain areas where noise is the loudest. A good soundproofing job would concentrate on these places that are the noisiest by placing more material there. However, in general, the places in a light plane that admit sound most readily are the firewall, cowl forward of the windshield/instrument panel, kickpanels, sidewalls of the cabin, roof and wing-roots. But the honor of the most noisy goes to the windows! When replacing windows, use the thickest material you can.”
Give the booklet a read and see if you can quiet down your cabin.
I have heard that people have been getting corrosion behind the super sound proofing because it is so dense that it traps moisture between it and the aircraft skin I’m not sure how true it is but it ma be worth further investigation
We purchased a 1968 Cessna 172 a couple years ago, it had a recent engine overhaul but the interior was pretty well worn. We stripped the inside completely and covered everything except under the floor skins w/ Bill Nash Super Soundproofing. Everything but the seats themselves were covered with Airtex replacements. The airplane is without doubt the quietest Cessna 172 I’ve ever flown!
I prefer to use ANR headsets for all four seats. Much quieter than soundproofing and it saves weight which may be more important.
In 1974, I recovered my Tri Pacer PA-22-135 with Razorback fiberglass fabric.
At the same time I put a fiberglass mat on the firewall and the cowling behind the firewall, carpeted the glare shield , wrapped the entire cabin with 2″thick sound absorbing fiberglass, Replaced all the windows with 1/4′ Plexi glass and replaced the windshield with a thicker one.
After all this we could carry on a conversation with a normal voice level and communicate using the cabin speaker.
The added weight was less than 14 pounds and the results were dramatic.!
charlie