Ear protection for children at air shows

tinkerbell28

Oh don't be silly op. If that was the case all off spring of RAF personnel would be deaf. They aren't.

System

tinkerbell28 wrote: »

Oh don't be silly op. If that was the case all off spring of RAF personnel would be deaf. They aren't.

How true. After a night shift I could sleep through 2 1/2 squadrons of Jaguars landing and taking off 300 yards from my room.

catkins

I've been to loud concerts where there have been children with no ear defenders and F1 races. I think children should wear them at these sort of events.

Mrs_Imp

tinkerbell28 wrote: »

Oh don't be silly op. If that was the case all off spring of RAF personnel would be deaf. They aren't.

Why on earth would the offspring be deaf? They don't fly the aircraft, their parents do. Their houses aren't next to the runway either.

I guess if people want to ignore the advice of the air show organisers, who recommend wearing hearing protection that's up to them, just please don't put your child's hearing at risk. Hearing problems relating to loud noises experienced as a child often don't show up until people are middle aged.

As I said, my question has been answered by the complacency of some.

sweetcheekz

Some of us live next to the runways! Having lived at the end of a runway where Tornadoes are taking off and landing I honestly don't think sporadic noise at some distance is particularly harmful.

Would I put defenders on a child? possibly if they were scared of loud noises. Would I judge someone who didn't? Nope they know their child better than me.

I think each parent makes the choices they feel are best for their children, we just don't always agree on what that is

securityguy

Mrs_Imp wrote: »

As I said, my question has been answered by the complacency of some.

Or, alternatively, that others actually understand the risks and have come to a different conclusion.

We had a long-running row at my children's school with an idiot woman who had drunk deep from the "2 watts of UHF causes cancer" well and therefore was obsessively opposed to the installation of a wireless network. Her favoured tactic when, yet again, people laboriously pointed out why the absurd websites she was trawling were nonsense (this at a school whose parent body included several professors of physics and an anomalous cluster of biologists with an interest in radiation) was to sigh and say "obviously, I care about my children more than you do" or "at least I care". Concern trolling, I think it's called.

Anyway, you care more than other parents. You're a better mother. Everyone else is an irresponsible parent (although it might be worth pointing out the number of people who have been killed over the years by aircraft at airshows whacking into the crowd). Well done you.

clairec79

I grew up with a father in the RAF, so living with them flying overhead daily, and the Air Show was a big event to which every one went - no one wore ear protection (to be fair this was in the 1980s) and I don't remember anyone having hearing problems due to it

tinkerbell28

Mrs_Imp wrote: »

Why on earth would the offspring be deaf? They don't fly the aircraft, their parents do. Their houses aren't next to the runway either.

I guess if people want to ignore the advice of the air show organisers, who recommend wearing hearing protection that's up to them, just please don't put your child's hearing at risk. Hearing problems relating to loud noises experienced as a child often don't show up until people are middle aged.

As I said, my question has been answered by the complacency of some.

LOL yes they are near enough, Some houses right at the end of strips. I'm also sure pilots play dodge the chimney. So kids are exposed to aircraft all the time.

So are parents who live on RAF bases complacent, are they bad parents for not making their kids wear ear defenders all the time? When many kids have been fine for a generation?

So why aren't all RAF personnel's children deaf?

Faith177

As the daughter of a anorak (my mum loves aircraft) my brother and I have spent most of our lives at the bottom of runways and have attended RIAT (Fairford) for the last 20 years. My brothers first airshow was at 3 mine 7.

We have never worn ear defenders at any airshows (and at one point we were attending 1-2 every weekend from May-Sept) or when we use to stand at the bottom of RAF Lossiemouth's runway watching the Tornados take off and land.

Our hearing is fine for both of us and my mums is fine too. This is especially surprising as me and my brother also go to a lot of heavy metal gigs on a regular basis lol

Raksha

bap98189 wrote: »

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.

Took my kids to RIAT some years ago, #3 son went very quiet - he'd fallen asleep in the middle of the Euro fighter display