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USAF HGU-48/p


mwesson030
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Recent purchase from eBay. Personally have not been able to find much info so far on these besides being a prototype for the HGU-55/p. Any other information would be greatly appreciated!2460ccadd98e05315f6791c7528362b3.jpg059dd68c9f8bc399a0a713e0aac9e719.jpg1b2c23f8b0048504e058821d710f37aa.jpgaa269b59f7c6d4b5d88e53038b0bbc0b.jpg

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One piece of information I have found on these helmets is that there seems to be a report on the model in the archives at DTIC. Additionally they are referenced in a life support volume from the early 1980’s. Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image

 

 

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Saw that on ebay and watched it to see what it would go for. Are you going to leave it as is or restore it a little like new edgeroll and ear cups etc?

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Hey Matt, try Flight Gear On Line. Com. Their best of section talks about the HGU 48p.

 

It does, but types are mixed on that page, what I do now is the following:

 

  • There has been an USAF modification (TO Approved) to modify an HGU-22 shell to light weight configuration, this looks like the 48.
  • There have been Gentex made HGU-48/P's (as seen above in the images) as part of a contract, helmet based on the PRK-37 shell.
  • There have been Protection Inc made custom HGU-48/P helmets, based on PRK-37 shell.

One source state the Gentex made HGU-48 contract, being produced of Kevlar, where the 22/P shell is not.

 

Your example being one of the USAF contract batch helmets. I would refill the edgeroll (by using HGU-55/P edgeroll foam) and repair the tears from the inside.

This can be done by inserting a sheet of leather under the tear (on the foam) Glue it to one side of the tear first (till it sticks) then glue the second part to close the tear. This keeps the original edgeroll and minor repairs visible.

 

Cheers Ron

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That's the best run down on the HGU-48 I've read yet Ron...the "best of" article is a bit confusing. I have to give kudos to you guys that caught the helmet was an HGU 48. I watched the helmet and never noticed it was an HGU 48.

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Are you going to leave it as is or restore it a little like new edgeroll and ear cups etc?

I think I'm going to leave it as is for the time being. I know it is in poor condition, but unless something is actually removed from the helmet I don't like to replace things.

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It does, but types are mixed on that page, what I do now is the following:

 

  • There has been an USAF modification (TO Approved) to modify an HGU-22 shell to light weight configuration, this looks like the 48.
  • There have been Gentex made HGU-48/P's (as seen above in the images) as part of a contract, helmet based on the PRK-37 shell.
  • There have been Protection Inc made custom HGU-48/P helmets, based on PRK-37 shell.

One source state the Gentex made HGU-48 contract, being produced of Kevlar, where the 22/P shell is not.

 

Your example being one of the USAF contract batch helmets. I would refill the edgeroll (by using HGU-55/P edgeroll foam) and repair the tears from the inside.

This can be done by inserting a sheet of leather under the tear (on the foam) Glue it to one side of the tear first (till it sticks) then glue the second part to close the tear. This keeps the original edgeroll and minor repairs visible.

 

Cheers Ron

 

 

Thank you very much for this info on the 48. Also thank you for the advice on how to repair the helmet, but the leather has dried out and is not repairable.

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It does, but types are mixed on that page, what I do now is the following:

 

  • There has been an USAF modification (TO Approved) to modify an HGU-22 shell to light weight configuration, this looks like the 48.
  • There have been Gentex made HGU-48/P's (as seen above in the images) as part of a contract, helmet based on the PRK-37 shell.
  • There have been Protection Inc made custom HGU-48/P helmets, based on PRK-37 shell.

One source state the Gentex made HGU-48 contract, being produced of Kevlar, where the 22/P shell is not.

 

Your example being one of the USAF contract batch helmets. I would refill the edgeroll (by using HGU-55/P edgeroll foam) and repair the tears from the inside.

This can be done by inserting a sheet of leather under the tear (on the foam) Glue it to one side of the tear first (till it sticks) then glue the second part to close the tear. This keeps the original edgeroll and minor repairs visible.

 

Cheers Ron

 

 

Thank you very much for this info on the 48. Also thank you for the advice on how to repair the helmet, but the leather has dried out and is not repairable.

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Currently on Ebay a nice example of the HGU-22 shell configured to light weight / HGU-55/P.

(USAF T.O. 14P3-4-112 explains how to modify an HGU-2A to HGU-55 configuration.)

 

See the image of the helmet. Note the holes for the drawstrings and the lack of spacer behind the bayonet receiver.

 

post-163947-0-31482400-1574151058_thumb.jpg

 

Cheers

Ron

 

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Currently on Ebay a nice example of the HGU-22 shell configured to light weight / HGU-55/P.

(USAF T.O. 14P3-4-112 explains how to modify an HGU-2A to HGU-55 configuration.)

 

Cheers

Ron

 

 

This one was used by the Danish Air Force by the way, also the Dutch flew with modified examples.

 

Cheers

Ron

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Some more information out of a 1984 USAF study guide:

 

post-163947-0-29264500-1574434524_thumb.jpg

 

To make things a bit more complicated, tells this manual that by adding a dual visor (Bungee) setup to the HGU-48/P it becomes HGU-55/P by designation.

 

Cheers,

Ron

post-163947-0-29264500-1574434524_thumb.jpg

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Posted Image

 

Something I just noticed is how the leather pads the visor sits on are separate from the edgeroll, unlike on the HGU-55/p.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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That is a great early helmet!!

 

I have a similar early helmet setup, but my helmet was Navy.

 

A few years back I found an early custom made HGU-55 made by Protection Inc. and it has the same leather edge roll (mine has black leather) like your HGU-48.

 

My helmet looks like it was based on the PRK-37 shell and modified to an HGU-55 setup.

 

Here is the link to the earlier thread.

 

Chris

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/249276-navy-jet-helmet/

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  • 6 months later...

Bringing this post back up with some more information!

 

 

I emailed Jason Gilligan who is the director of business development for aircrew systems at Gentex about the HGU-48/p. He said he didn’t know much but would ask another employee, Mark Jones, aircrew helmets products manager and USAF veteran. So here it is, straight from the horse’s mouth.

 

Seemingly this means my helmet was one of the batch that went to an F-15 squadron during this evaluation and is untouched since. Nice to finally have some real documentation and sources!

 

 

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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

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