Tango retails for $800 and is available in dual GA, LEMO (panel power), and heli (U-174) configurations. Lightspeed Aviation Photo
The seed of an idea emerged two decades ago, around the time Lightspeed Aviation launched with the goal of creating the quietest, most comfortable aviation headsets for professional or general aviation pilots.
The idea was to build an aviation company that makes amazing products that pilots love, that demonstrate a passion for aviation.
But it was also to build a company pilots would want to support, one that is as remarkable in the way it does business as in the products it makes.
“We have this history of listening to you as pilots and then going back and trying to integrate those things you need and those things you want to improve your flying experience,” said Lightspeed president and CEO Allan Schrader in a webcast speech Nov. 12.
“Today is no different. There were some specific things you guys have been asking for for several years now, relative to technology breakthroughs that would allow you to further expand and enjoy your freedom of flight.
“Today’s that day.”
Schrader helped unveil the company’s latest innovation: Tango, a product it bills as the world’s first premium wireless aviation headset.
Tango blends noise cancelling capability and comfort with wireless convenience to create what the company says is an entirely new level of flying enjoyment and “untethered freedom.”
At the heart of Tango is Lightspeed Link, a patent-pending combination of analog and digital technologies that replaces traditional cables with a secure wireless signal.
The connection allows as many as six Tango headsets to be operated in the same aircraft.
Key controls, including intercom volume and com priority are located on the headset, and the system is said to be the first aviation headset powered by rechargeable lithium ion batteries.
The batteries deliver 12 hours of continuous operation and can be quickly charged with a dual port wall charger that is said to provide a 70 per cent charge in less than an hour and a full charge in two hours.
The batteries can also be charged while the headset is in use or replaced on the go.
Tango also includes Bluetooth capability for both phone and streaming music and an auxiliary input jack for connecting audio devices via a patch cable.
“There is sort of this strange and nicely wonderful feeling that you get without having a cord that I had not anticipated,” Schrader said. “It really does release, I think, a new element of the joy of flying.”
He added the company wants to be remarkable not just in the products it makes but in the ways customers feel cared for “over a lot of years.”
“We look forward to continuing to create amazing products and serve you in ways that will really astound you,” he said.
Tango retails for $800 and is available in dual GA, LEMO (panel power), and heli (U-174) configurations. Shipments will begin immediately.
