KLOVER MiK Parabolic Microphones at EAA Airshow

One would normally think that recording audio of airplanes at an airshow would be an easy task. The planes are very loud and you are out in a wide open space. It should be easy.

However, airshows set up a large public address system that blasts out music and an announcer. The first problem is that the volume of the PA system is turned up to a level so spectators can hear the PA over the aircraft, at least for the majority of the show. The second problem is that the music and / or announcer never stop.

Over the past two summers, we have worked with Steve Oakley, an audio engineer in the Experimental Aircraft Association’s video department, to capture clear audio at the AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, WI. We developed a dual-layer version of our KLOVER MiK 26 (26-inch) parabolic microphone to isolate the microphone from the PA system located behind it.

Steve has posted a video describing his experience with the custom parabolic mic. The audio makes it clear how well the dual-layer parabolic isolated the aircraft from the PA system.

While at the airshow, we also tested our small, KLOVER MiK 09 (9-inch) parabolic mic. The primary question was whether the small unit could capture the low-frequency sounds of the warplanes. It proved very effective at the low frequencies. We analyzed the video and found that the captured audio goes down to 40 Hertz.