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Post WWII-1950's cloth flight helmets.... info sought!


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wartimecollectables.com

I recently purchased some flight gear from the estate of a retired Navy fighter pilot who enlisted in 1946.ese
There are several of the cloth flight helmets and it presents a learning opportunity for me as I have several variations to compare.
If any of the wizened can share info on these I'd appreciated!

I assume tan cloth predates sage green? I'm amazed at the variety of hooks and snaps! These are all basically the same helmet but the modificats vary greatly!

Were these only worn under the H4 style helmets or ?

THANKS

post-93-0-52515200-1528741442.jpg

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One of The sage green has the strap to connect it to the shell of the early jet helmets like the N-3/H-4 series

 

Are the lables present in the backs?

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wartimecollectables.com

One of The sage green has the strap to connect it to the shell of the early jet helmets like the N-3/H-4 series

 

Are the lables present in the backs?

 

One Gentex, one 'summer weight' WWII makeover I assume, and two with the standard S&K label, one missing.

Good eye, yes only one has the H series rigid helmet snaps. Is that one earlier or later? How long did the use the H series helmets for combat jet jockeys?

post-93-0-11737600-1528745655_thumb.jpg

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pararaftanr2

The three helmets with boom microphone mounts pre-date the two without them. The later two would have been worn as a liner to a hard shell H-3 or H-4 helmet, both of which had their own microphone mount.

Of the three with boom mounts, the green nylon one is actually the earliest, being produced from October 1944 to March 1945, followed by the tan Bryd cloth helmet without the oxygen mask snaps (also of WW2 vintage, being made under two contracts, from December 1944 to December 1945), then the tan one with leather reinforced oxygen mask snaps, which was a post-war development.

The labels inside the two green helmets without boom mounts show you the chronology, based on their contract numbers, with N383-6018 preceding N383-73542.

Based on the location of the oxygen mask snaps and the type of boom mounts, I would say all the helmets you have were modified and used post-WW2.

 

Your unidentified item is a Navy "push-to-talk" switch, typically used as an extension cord for the oxygen mask microphone.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Paul

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