mulegolf Yes, but I wore foam earplugs with my helmet all the time. We didn't have to wear the helmet 100%, some used headsets (Dave Clark) when allowed--they don't protect as well as the helmet did.
I wear a noise-canceling headset (Bose) now on commercial flights to try and save as much as possible, and I have hearing aids I seldom use.
Air is a lot of noise but helicopters have the engine closer to you in the cockpit.
Loss of hearing is near automatic disability claim when folks leave, especially when folks retire after 20 yrs, which is what I did. I did not pursue the disability part as I went to the airlines and in those days they can still discriminate against some by pilots marking disabled on the application.
