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WWII Navy Flight Helmet - Help


usn_flyboy
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My name is James, I currently collect WWII navy items and also do a bit of reenacting.
This past weekend I was at a TBM Avenger Gathering and Reunion. While I was there, I had some pieces from my collection out for display. One of these item's caught a gentleman's eye... my navy flight helmet
Its a Slote and Klein Navy Summer Flying Helmet, Contract No. N288s-27405. Size Large. The unusual thing that he noticed was that it has a Boom style microphone. The receivers are marked.. US Navy. ANB-H1A. CTE. The mic is marked MT-521/U. CTE. N383s-24117 on the boom itself. Where it attaches to the earcup.. its marked MT-522U, Con N383s-24117, CTE.
He thought it might be rare because you usually see photos of pilots using throat mics instead of a boom mic.
If you could give me any insight on the helmet it would be very much appreciated..
Thanks!
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I don't know for certain but I have seen a couple like this and think they may have been adapted/used in this configuration during the Korean War period. This type boom mic is usually seen on the H-4 and APH-5 helmets of the era.

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James, that is a post war setup. THe N383s contract is a post war contract number so the mike is post war. The helmet is definitely a WWII contract though. I have a mike setup similar to yours but mine is late war with a 288s contract. I think I still have one setup with a post war mike contract as well.

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exactamundo... should either be throat mic or the "bus driver" looking handheld mics...

though the helmet is WW2 as stated.

 

-Brian

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pararaftanr2

James and all,

To clarify what has been stated here by others, your flight helmet is a WW-2 contract item, produced between 12/44 and 5/45, but the mount and microphone, with N-383 contract numbers, are post-WW-2 production.

Known by the Navy during WW-2 as "lip type" microphones, what we collector's call boom microphones, were developed by the Navy and manufactured starting in late 1944. They were intended to replace hand and throat mics for low-altitude communications. The oxygen mask mic would have been used at higher altitudes. The WW-2 vintage item was stock number R16-M-2471, consisting of the AN MX-314/UR harness (boom) and M-5A/UR microphone. It is listed and illustrated in the January,1945 Catalog of Aeronautic Materials, Spare Parts and Equipment. A patent was applied for in April, 1945. Note the approval date of December 1st,1944, on the instruction sheet with this example. Being a newer item, they were in short supply in the PTO before VJ Day, so were primarily distributed to squadron leaders and executive officers. A similar "boom" mic made by another Navy contractor is seen more frequently in vintage photos. Also, it should be noted that the original Navy "lip type" mic actually did rest on the user's upper lip, held in place by a rubber harness snapped to the flight helmet. It was uncomfortable and was quickly replaced.

 

 

 

 

 

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I need to start using this forum more often.. you guys have a TON of knowledge. I guess I should start looking for a more period correct flight helmet then to go with my impression.

 

Whats the value of what I have now at the moment? not that I'm planning to sell it.. Im just curious if I got a good deal on it.

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