Ear protection for children at air shows

Mrs_Imp

We went to an air show at the weekend and had a lovely time. We had been drilling in to No.1 son for about 2 weeks that he needed to put his ear defenders on for noisy aircraft. He was mostly good. The only time he was naughty he got such a shock from the noise that he didn't mess aroung with the ear defenders again! No.1 daughter is young enough not to be able to take hers off. Mr Imp and I used ear plugs.

Almost every shop on site was selling ear defenders, yet there were still children without them on, standing watching the F16, the Euro fighters, and the Vulcan take off and perform.

Why people would risk their childrens hearing like that?

Yes I know it's 'none of my business' but I'm still curious to know why. (Obviously there may have been some deaf children there who didn't need ear defenders)

GwylimT

Its an air show, would you put ear defenders on your children when they are in a city?

securityguy

Mrs_Imp wrote: »

We went to an air show at the weekend and had a lovely time. We had been drilling in to No.1 son for about 2 weeks that he needed to put his ear defenders on for noisy aircraft. He was mostly good. The only time he was naughty he got such a shock from the noise that he didn't mess aroung with the ear defenders again! No.1 daughter is young enough not to be able to take hers off. Mr Imp and I used ear plugs.

Almost every shop on site was selling ear defenders, yet there were still children without them on, standing watching the F16, the Euro fighters, and the Vulcan take off and perform.

Why people would risk their childrens hearing like that?

Because they almost certainly aren't. The gap between "wearing hearing protection because it's much more comfortable" and "wearing hearing protection because it prevents damage" is much wider than you probably think. The level of noise required to do harm within a few seconds is massively, massively higher than you'll ever get at an airshow (around 140dBA). Conversely, much lower levels of noise over extended periods are much more potentially damaging, which is why hearing protection in factories is necessary for people working in them all day.

Assuming you're not exposed to 140dbA --- and unless you're spending the day shooting full-bore rifles, you probably aren't --- the basic problem is intensity multiplied by duration, and 30 seconds while XH558 climbs out is hardly a problem. On the other hand, a day in a noisy primary classroom might be, and no-one is suggesting hearing protection for that (although I suspect a lot of teachers will find in their forties that it might not have been a bad idea).

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Depends on what the parents know from experience. There are a few guys I know in their late thirties and forties who have tinnitus as a result of gigging - it just never occurred to them that it could be a problem - but then there are others, who, as soon as they started getting into music were told that ear protection was essential.

Both categories have ear defenders for their children, so their experience has taught them it is important; but there will be plenty of kids at festivals, concerts, etc, whose parents have never played themselves, so it wouldn't occur to them that live music could be a problem.


The air show ones tend to be more so that kids aren't upset or frightened by the noise, more than for actual protection, anyhow - it's loud, but not the same as being around that noise all day, everyday, as peoe who work with them would be.

tea_lover

securityguy wrote: »

The level of noise required to do harm within a few seconds is massively, massively higher than you'll ever get at an airshow (around 140dBA).

The level of noise considered to do harm within a few seconds is 137dBA - the peak sound pressure for which employees must be protected. 140dBA is twice as loud as this (3dB increase = x2 volume). You would easily get this level at an air show.

bap98189

I remember gong to the Farnborough air-show when I was a kid. Hearing the roar of a fast jet passing only a few hundred feet away was part of the fun. Yes it's incredibly loud, that's part of the fun. The organisers will know the approximate sound levels, and will have positioned the crowd such that whilst it is incredibly loud, it is not going to damage your ears hearing it a few times.

You aren't going to damage your ears from the 10 seconds or so it takes a jet to pass. If you were repeatedly exposed to it every day then yes it would be a concern, but come on, lighten up and let kids be amazed by the sound of a fast jet without the need for PPE.

Mrs_Imp

But it's not just for a few seconds though is it. They had 7 hours of flying at the air show. The whole of the Vulcan, F16, Eurofighter and Mig displays were extremely loud, (not to mention all of the other noisy aircraft that I don't know the names of). It was a proper air show with proper displays, not just a fly past of a few noisy aircraft.

It's one thing exposing yourself to that level and duration of noise, but another thing exposing your children to it.

The Waddington Air Show web site even warns people that aircraft noise WILL damage hearing: http://www.waddingtonairshow.co.uk/hints-and-tips

ash28

Ooops not much hope for us then......we live very near an RAF base which has Typhoons that regularly fly over us....we are very rural and only a couple of miles from the base.....there's a couple just gone over now......They either fly during the day or in the evening but not both. But it's all day. No weekends unless they're off to an airshow. They practice aerobatics and formation flying amongst other things....

The Battle of Britain flight is also very close to us but when they are out flying it's like music to my husband's ears.

Before Concorde was grounded we lived underneath the flightpath and 3 times a day you were unable to hear yourself speak....it was shockingly loud....we lived there for years.

Guests and visitors used to run out into the garden to see it....

The RAF don't give warnings to their neighbours about potential hearing damage........

tru

I've been to Fairford a few times - was in a farmers field next to the runway on thursday to watch planes fly in! - it's not the flying that's so much of a problem (though that is loud), it's being next to the runway while the planes take off. It's incredibly loud and the sound goes right through you. Personally, I love it But I wouldn't take a small child without ear defenders.

Goldiegirl

If aircraft at air shows were going to damage people's hearing, then they wouldn't have air shows.

Ear defenders may be something that people like to use, but I don't think they are a must.

tru

I've been next to the runway when Eurofighters have taken off, I haven't worried about hearing problems BUT it's almost unbearable if you're not expecting it Very scary for a small child, I would imagine.