Active-noise-reduction specialist Lightspeed Aviation (Booth No. 308) is introducing its Zulu Helo headset at Heli-Expo 2008. It is a product the Lake Oswego, Ore.-based company describes as the first “premium-priced, luxury headset” designed specifically for the rotorcraft market.

The headset design uses magnesium, which Lightspeed said stops 10 times as much sound as traditional plastic ear cups. Lightspeed engineers even introduced into the design magnesium in combination with specially tuned plastics.

“Our engineers didn’t set out to make a headset that was just measurably quieter,” said v-p of marketing Mark Shepard. “They set out to make a headset that is remarkably quieter. We want people to put them on and say, ‘Wow.’”

Lightspeed plans to use the Zulu series as the basis for “an entirely new line of patent-pending premium products.”