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Thoughts On Vietnam Cobra APH Helmet?


mwesson030
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Iâm sure most of you have seen it already, but I was wondering what some of the more experienced eyes thought about this helmet up for auction on eBay right now. Is it period? Was it commemorative?

 

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A couple of thoughts..... the actual King Cobra was experimental and was early 70s. Im thinking the helmet would be an sph. Even Cobras were late 60s... so again Im thinking an sph. I also believe it was common practice for helicopter pilots to paint their white helmets olive drab prior to deployment to Vietnam. Super helmet, but I question if it was ever in combat. Provenance would be key with this one.

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Super helmet, but I question if it was ever in combat. Provenance would be key with this one.

Yeah, that was my concern as well. Possibly it was used in testing stateside? I think that the APH stayed in production for quite a while. The seller was not able to supply any provenance.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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phantomfixer

from the pictures.. I like the paint and the wear..scratches, dings etc...To me...looks like an operationally used helmet.....I am not passing judgement on when and where...but I think the guy flew with it

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The 129th guns were known as King Cobras to differentiate themselves from other units like the 114th guns Cobras. I have a patch in my collection with the exact image on it as that is painted on the back of the helmet. If this is some sort of bogus repro it has taken a significant amount of effort to produce.

 

IH

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Looks period correct for the Huey Bravo gunship era and most likely the real deal.

Combat used or not, it's still a very cool piece of history.

Nice score!

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  • 1 month later...

The 129th was at Lane Army Heliport,An Son ,Viet Nam in the 70-71 time period(when I was there) and there were Cobras there.There is a facebook page for Lane Army Heliport.It was pretty much roll your own over there so if a pilot had had taken his APH 5 over there he could have painted it up and wore it, although the SPH 4 was the norm.

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