I have flown in a several Cessnas lately (late model skywagons to be specific) that have considerably quieter cabins than mine.

This characteristic is highly desirable, as it reduces fatigue and makes passengers more comfortable. We always wear headsets, but even still, the quieter cabin is nice. We fly as a family, often with a dog, and I feel that making this effort will help preserve everyone's hearing in the future.

I did put in a 1/4 inch thick windshield, and some thicker selkirk foam on the firewall, but it's still quite noisy.

The whistling from the tips of my MT prop is also quite pervasive.

Every winter, I have a few projects on my plane. This winter, soundproofing the cabin is on the list.

I'm looking for any tips or experiences that others have had with soundproofing. Are there any surprising sources of noise? My plane is pretty light and I want to keep it that way, so I'm looking for "most effect for the pound" type of modifications.

Thanks in advance!

Sorry if this sounds patronizing, you did mention headsets for all occupants but are they "active" noise cancelling. By that I mean "powered" not "passive" noise cancelling. I only ask because I moved from passive to active many years ago and it made a huge difference. So much so that I was in fact able to remove some weight in old sound proofing.

Mapleflt wrote:Sorry if this sounds patronizing, you did mention headsets for all occupants but are they "active" noise cancelling. By that I mean "powered" not "passive" noise cancelling. I only ask because I moved from passive to active many years ago and it made a huge difference. So much so that I was in fact able to remove some weight in old sound proofing.

We fly with ANR headsets, but I still really like the quieter cabins that I’ve flown in.

While not the same Cessna model, suggest having a read of Dennis Wolter's "Cessna 172 Soundproofing" article on his website
https://airmod.com/magazine-articles/
His other articles are also insightful and worth a read, and should help avoid "reinventing the wheel".

Edit 24 Aug: direct link to referenced article is
https://airmod.com/wp-content/uploads/2 ... ay2006.pdf

iPat wrote:While not the same Cessna model, suggest having a read of Dennis Wolter's "Cessna 172 Soundproofing" article on his website
https://airmod.com/magazine-articles/
His other articles are also insightful and worth a read, and should help avoid "reinventing the wheel".

That link took me to a listing of magazines available to read online--
the Cessna Flyer section shows a 20-part series on "renovating an interior".
I assume that's what youre referencing?
Can you narrow down which article has the soundproofing info?
Thanks.

I used his name along with soundproofing and found it.

https://airmod.com/wp-content/uploads/2 ... ay2006.pdf

iPat wrote:While not the same Cessna model, suggest having a read of Dennis Wolter's "Cessna 172 Soundproofing" article on his website
https://airmod.com/magazine-articles/
His other articles are also insightful and worth a read, and should help avoid "reinventing the wheel".

Edit 24 Aug: direct link to referenced article is
https://airmod.com/wp-content/uploads/2 ... ay2006.pdf

Great article with valuable perspective. Thanks for sharing.

180Marty wrote:I used his name along with soundproofing and found it.

https://airmod.com/wp-content/uploads/2 ... ay2006.pdf

Thanks Marty.