I love these "throwback" leather flying helmets by Campbell Aero Classics:
http://www.campbellaeroclassics.com/
Attachment 2933
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I love these "throwback" leather flying helmets by Campbell Aero Classics:
http://www.campbellaeroclassics.com/
Attachment 2933
I thought that they were really cool also.... until I checked the price.
For what its worth, from what digging I have done the HGU-55's and -68's and a couple of other variants of the fixed wing helmets use the same shell and nape strap assemblies. The differences are in the visors, boom mic vs oxy mask, NVG mounting, etc. My understanding of the genesis of the -68 visor assembly is that the -55's bungee visor would not stay in place during 600kts ejections. And the lower profile side lock knob for the -68 visor is used because if you fly an airplane with a canopy, that huge center locking knob that you see on the old HGU-33's visor puts big scratches in the canopy if you fly with the visor up.
The military helmets are all overkill for most civilian aviation, but great for those of us who put more stress on our ships.
For what its worth, I have had a number of friends crunch Cessnas, Mooneys, Bellanca's, and Beechcrafts. Their experience has been that if you follow the maxim of "fly until all of the expensive noise stops", that is keep flying and aiming between the trees, they did fine with only a baseball cap for head protection. And as I think about local history, I can remember a whole BUNCH of pilots who kept their cool and flew their airplane until there was nothing left to do but dust themselves off and hike to a telephone. So as with many things, crashing is about software, not hardware.
Fly safe,
Wes
N78S
The Campbell helmets are top of the line if price is not a barrier. I think the main one is about $2200, ,might be more by now, and of course that includes the headset. And of course they aren't just leather helmets, they are really hard shells covered by leather.
I got a chance to borrow one from Dick Hansen at Oskosh and fly with it a few years back. First of all, the electronics are first rate, just as good as David Clark and that is very good. There was not noise canceling then, but clear and sharp. I had the boom mike in a high noise cockpit and had very good communication with the tower or other planes.
The helmet is very strong looking, I think the shell is kevlar, and with the period leather or cloth covering they really have to right look, sure made my tan D C one look funny.
The only problem for me, and it was a big one, was lack of comfort. The shell is more round than oval and my head is more oval, so that after 30 minutes I really had a headache. I had the medium size, the small would not go on, and the large was loose and sloppy. So I think if you are going to buy one, try it on very carefully and maybe even see if they would let you do a test flight.
The comfort factor was the only thing that stopped me from buying one, and back then the price hadn't gone up so much. I have talked to several people that fly with them and have not found anyone who doesn;'t like them.
Bill, thanks for the pilot report. I am surprised by your discomfort as most heads are oval front to back and I would have thought that the Cambell helmet would accommodate that. I will no longer feel bad about cheaping out.
Best of luck,
Wes
N78PS
This has been an education for sure. Here's one for the group. Is there a way to resurect an old APH-5 at a reasonable cost?
It was issued to me (by a grateful government) when I was activated in San Antonio. When I arrived at my overseas destination, I was given a bullet proof "ballistic" helmet. It looked just the same as the old APH-5, suspension was a little different. But it was like wearing a torture device. I disobeyed the order to toss the APH- 5 in the conex with all the others and I wore it instead. Around the clock on special occasions. Of course it got personalized.
Fast forward a decade or two and I felt a need for a helmet that was compatable with civilian avionics. The avionics tech at my place of employment said that he would convert it. Instead, he just screwed it up with salvaged parts, then gave up on it. I got it back in "kit form." I was thinking that maybe a real compact head set might fit inside. Any ideas?
Bob
You can find all kinds of helmet parts of e-Bay or all places. And Government Sales in CT (www.aviationhelmets.com) can sell you parts or even update your helmet for you. Nice folks.
So you can put the latest comfort padding into your older helmet.
Now what I do for comms is put a Clarity Aloft headset under my helmet. I suspect that one of the Halo headsets would work also. They are both very light and low profile. You can keep the old ear cups for noise attenuation or fill the space with pink comfort/noise attenuating foam from the drug store or Aircraft Spruce. The pink and blue foam is what is inside the aftermarket headset ear seals.
Hope this helps,
Wes
N78PS
Thanks Wes. I might as well get started on this helmet.Quote:
Originally Posted by WLIU
Bob
They used to say the same thing about seat belts in both cars and planes....Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyfalcons
Nope. But so far as my head goes if the helmet isn't approved by the US military for use in helicopters (the jet helmets are a completely different standard) or by one of the major auto racing bodies (NHRA, F1, NASCAR or Indy Car), I won't use it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike67
Speaking of that, if anyone has a helmet that has been through a crash and would not mind, I can arrange to have it examined which can help improve future designs. I probably get three or four a year looked at for folks after crashes currently but I would like to increase that. The most important thing to remember is that once it has been in a crash, it needs to be replaced.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Greenwood
Talk to one of the company that makes helmets. You can get them "reupholstered" for less than the cost of a new helmet. I had to do this with my helmet after my daughter spilled a bottle of Coke into it.Quote:
I know I could get a used helmet for much less but buying a used helmet is like buying a used Jock strap
Very cool, but I have sort of a tradition/superstition of having Thumper the Rabbit on my helmets (both aviation and firefighting) and I don't think that would work too well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zack
That last point is true, but I can point to just as many folks who didn't do so well. Yeah, crash survivability can depend to a large degree on luck and skill, given the choice are you willing to bet your life on everything lining up perfectly when things have gotten bad? I'd rather go for "hardware" and "software" than relying upon either alone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wes
Based on a surprising to me large sample of local incidents over the years, I am comfortable with my safety gear. Back when I flew ratty old airplanes around, and before cell phones were invented, I heard the advice to try and crash near a phone. That tells you something about the equipment and the culture that I was immersed in. Looking back, I firmly believe that what kills most pilots is poor training, which begets poor decision making, and finally you have to have the determination that the airplane may wind up a pile of trash but you are not going with it. Its about software, not hardware.
Example - I was based at an airport where the rotating beacon was up on a hill next to the airport, some distance from the runway. One night a Bonanza driver passing by had a total engine failure. He had some altitude and saw the beacon so he thought that he could make the airport. And don't they put the rotating beacon on the airport right next to the runway? Well, he got close enough to see the runway lights and realized that the position of the beacon had fooled him, he wasn't going to make the runway, and that there were lots of trees waiting for him. Rather than give up and drive straight into the dark trees, he kept his brain going and decided that since he was in the left seat he would wreck the airplane in a right side slip so that the right wing would reach the scene of the accident first and absorb as much crash impact as practical. Went into the trees that way, crawled out the wreck and over to the nearest house.
Most of the accidents that I know of in my aeronautical neighborhood involve weather or pilots who stalled rather then fly the airplane to impact. Train and mentally condition yourself to not make those two mistakes and you greatly reduce the probability that you will show up in an NTSB report. But getting back to the subject of helmets, none of the pilots I know of who flew into hard objects in the clouds would have benefited from wearing a helmet, or cockpit airbags, better belts, etc. You just can't be flying into tall rocks in the clouds.
But helmets are great for us guys who fly close to the ground or beat the crap out of the equipment on good weather days. And while certifications are nice, any helmet is better than no helmet if you operate in these types of environments.
But I've still never seen a bush pilot put on a helmet. Would scare off the customers.
You mileage may vary. Past history is no guarantee of future performance. Void where prohibited by law. The names have been changed to protect the guilty. Only to be done under adult supervision.
Wes
N69795
Steve, I never heard of anyone who wore a helmet while doing coke, that must be some strong stuff to require that much protection.
But then I am not really an expert, don't do it myself and am pretty far out of touch with the party crowd from the old days who do.