F-15 Eagle 67th FS pilot - HGU-26P / MBU-12P (80's, USAF)

[Vark_07]

Greetings everyone !
Today I'll be reviewing this HGU-26/P set (with green MBU-12/P) who belonged to an F-15 driver of the 67th Fighter Squadron "Fighthing Cocks" during the 80's, just before the introduction of the HGU-55/P.

 

 

First, a little History : based at Kadena AB, Okinawa (Japan) and showing the tailcode "ZZ", the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing's pilots of 67th and 44th FS have flown F-15C/D Eagles from September 1979 to present, providing air superiority over South-East Asia and the Pacific region ever since.
 

 

The helmet is a fully grey-painted HGU-26/P single visor, with a functional smoked visor in almost pristine condition.

It features the classic 4-lobe white USAF cross knob for single visors.

A few paint chips missing + slight scratching here and there (especially on the back), but overall it is in an outstanding issued condition.

The classic HGU-2A/P-type O² mask receivers are painted the same way, with blank plaques (sadly), and mounted downwards to adapt the J-shaped bayonets, typical of the latest MBU-5/P and MBU-12/P (which were brand new at that time) mask assemblies.

 

 

 

The unfortunate lack of back / inner label makes it a tad difficult to date and identify precisely, although one can find obvious details specific to the 22/P shell and 26/P series (front "brow pad", lack of cooling holes on the upper shell, soft grey padded chin and nape straps, custom liner and earphones...).

 

All the inner equipment is present and in a fine shape : 3 black leather-covered foam pads over a black-painted postyrene liner + "brow pad", external com plug and velcro-mounted earphones with MX-8376/AR (Active noise Reduction) earcups.

 

 

 

It may have been produced directly as such (for Sierra and Gentex started issuing single visor HGU-26/Ps starting late 1974), but considering the uncommon velcro-fixed earphones and what looks like a custom liner, let's not put away the possibility that it could be a custom fit HGU-2A/P or a later dated "Quarter Helmet Assembly", both based on the HGU-22/P shell.

 

Quote

from best-of-flightgear.dk : "Gentex' 1974 catalogue has no HGU-2A/P but shows single visor and double visor versions of the HGU-26/P, and Sierra delivered single visor HGU-26/P helmets in January 1975 [...]. Single visor helmets based on the HGU-22/P shell and manufactured after late 1974 are therefore single visor HGU-26/P helmets, not HGU-2A/P."

 

In any case, according to both USAF, manufacturers and online sources, the two latter sub-assemblies I mentioned above were no different from the 26/P specifications (if we exclude the PRU-36/P dual visor) for they used the very identical 22/P shell, so they were eventually considered as 26/Ps in the USAF nomenclature, after of course being rigged with the proper liner, bayonets recievers, and communication equipment according to the users' / units' requirements.

(online sources : NSN center, salimbeti.com & best-of-flightgear.dk)

 

 

What we know for sure, however, thanks to the inner visor housing, is that it's a Large-size helmet, and that at least this part was manufactured by Gentex.

 

 

To conclude, wether it is a regular issue 26/P or a custom fit 2A/P at the 26/P standard, my reasonable guess is that it was issued in the mid 70's and fully manufactured by Gentex, but this is naturally prone to debate .

 

 

Aside from its unclear manufacturing story (and therefore nomenclature), this helmet's operational life within the "Kadena Eagles" during their early F-15 years is easier to situate.

It was a brief period between the first aircratfs' arrival in Okinawa by the end of 1979, and the mid to late 80's when USAF squadrons transitioned to the HGU-55/P.
Here's a montage of freshly produced Eagles (1978) of the 67th during the first half of the 80's, actually showing these grey 26/Ps in flight (particularly visible on the bottom one - white visor knob, rail's shadow, and housing).

 

 

 

 

The visor housing features the colorful 67th's "Fighting Cock" sticker on the right, and a red taped (non-reflective) F-15 silhouette on the left (common to other Eagle squadrons of this period).
Interestingly enough, I've found that the decorative pattern of this helmet actually appears to be quite iconic of this squadron, since it passed on through the years and can still be seen on 55/P and JHMCS visor covers (except that the rooster is a smoking bird today ).

 

 

See also a computer renderning of the old (non-smoking) squadron insigna of the 80's (same as mine), and the 2014 commemorative patch which features the "ZZ" tailcode and the same F-15 silhouette.

 

 

The oxygen mask is an early-type green Gentex MBU-12/P, Extra Long.
Time stamp shows 1984-85-86, but the label is actually more precise : "Mfg. date : 2Q84" (second quarter 1984).
It came complete in awesome condition, with hose, mic, com cord and plugs.

 

 

 

Any comment / additional information and opinion will, as always, be appreciated.
Hope you enjoy the share.
Cheers - Vark_07

 

[mohawkALSE]

Nice setup and it is kind of a mystery.  To my knowledge, the HGU-2, 22/26 and so called Quarter Shell marked helmets all have the small grommets for the 2 strings of the old ear cup mounting style as well as the hole for the stud that the strings wrapped around when installed correctly.  Im seeing lack of any of those holes other than the standard grommeted headset hole with S hook and the nape pad screw.  Maybe it is some form of custom shell from even Sierra in the 70s or so.

[Vark_07]

You're absolutely right, I had noticed that too, but forgot to mention it in the review (should have, though).
Everything else fits perfectly to the 22/P - 26/P standards and characteristics.

 

On a side note, I've seen pictures of very few custom fit 2A/P without these grommets and stud, for instance one of the Thunderbirds' (photo link).

As a modeller, I'm wondering if these holes, when rendered useless by the latest communication headsets, could have just been filled with putty, sanded, and then painted with the whole shell before being issued. It's a wild guess, but that would be an easier way of seeing things (and job being done) than a whole new form of shell, don't you think ? I'm not removing the paint of my helmet to confirm my theory though !!

That being said, thanks to your analysis, the customized shell hypothesis appears more and more likely.

Cheers mohawkALSE .

[mohawkALSE]

Since you can take the ear cups off, you might be able to see evidence of the patch job if one was done from the inside.

 

On that Tbird helmet, what tells you thats a 2A/P?   Id say it was a 22/26  config seeing it has the thick edge roll.  Those helmets also are custom ordered, not off the shelf contract HGU helmets to my knowledge, so that would explain lack of holes their possibly.  Again not an expert on demo team helmets by any means.

[Av8er]

For what it may be worth, we were switching to the HGU-55 when I was in Korea during 1983-84. When I was getting checked out in the OA-37 at Davis-Monthan in the summer of 1983 the 23 TASS had already converted to the HGU-55, so PACAF was a little bit behind the Stateside units. Odd that your helmet still has sizing pads for that period, as all helmets that were being issued during initial pilot training had custom poured foam/leather liners in their HGU-26 shells when I went I started pilot training in 1979. I saw my very first MBU-12 in late 1982, but they did not become common issue in PACAF until late 1983. Some people, myself included, could never get a MBU-12 to fit correctly and stayed with the MBU-5.

 

Another tidbit of Squadron history was floating around while I was in PACAF regarding the 67th Fighter Squadron patch. The story was that the Squadron suffered an embarrassing event while based in Korea during the Korean War, something to do with their base being overrun by enemy troops. The story goes that the Squadron patch has a chicken on it as a result of the incident, and that the Squadron would never be allowed to be stationed Stateside. Again, it is just a story that I have never been able to verify, but it was well known in Korea when I was stationed there.

[Vark_07]

8 hours ago, mohawkALSE said:

On that Tbird helmet, what tells you thats a 2A/P ?

I simply trust what I've read on best-of-flightgear.dk, check the very bottom of this page for further explainations.

However, as you pointed out, it sure is a custom ordered helmet especially made fo the T-birds (from Protection Inc.) .

 

 

I've taken pictures of the inside with the earcups removed, the female velcro patches and black-painted liner masks most of the inner shell, but a few things actually appear more clearly :

• the rough aspect of the inner shell shows evidence of a previous liner that was taken off the shell, with a lot of glue (and/or ?) putty remains and irregularities, then painted over,
• there's one patched grommet hole clearly visible from the inside (see red arrow), which has been painted over too,
• yellowed glue marks on the shell next to the female velcro, edgerollsand brow pad, prove these equipments were fitted after the paintjob

Left side
 

Right side

 

So it appears that the whole shell was painted grey after having been stripped off and patched, then retrofitted to the 26/P standard with a black-painted foam liner (it's not polystyrene after a second look), 3 rather thin foam / leather sizing pads glued over it, the brow pad, new edgerolls, bayonet receivers, the Gentex large plastic visor, and these velcro-mounted earphones with AR earcups.

 

 

7 hours ago, Av8er said:

we were switching to the HGU-55 when I was in Korea during 1983-84
[...]all helmets that were being issued during initial pilot training had custom poured foam/leather liners in their HGU-26 shells when I went I started pilot training in 1979

The 3 sizing pads of my helmet are glued above another black-painted thicker foam liner as you can see in the pictures, it's not the old energy-absorbing polystyrene, but I'm pretty sure this custom job is way prior to 1979 anyway.
Besides, all the dating informations about your training and the PACAF flight gear history you gave is really interesting, and concurs with my statement that this helmet / mask set was used in the very short F-15 period of the early 80's just before the 55/P switching.

 

The mystery about the helmet's manufacturing origin (and datation) however remains, but all the clues I've gathered thanks to your kind comments and the cautious examination of the inside makes me think that it was more probably a retrofitted 2A/P or 22/P custom helmet from the early 70's (even perhaps late 60's) to the 26/P specifications, and not a 26/P ordered "off the shelf".

Thank you for your input gentlemen !

[mohawkALSE]

Ive seen custom helmets done by Sierra from 1968-69 and they had the poured fit liner and custom "elephant ear" leather ear cups, never saw a custom helmet job have regular sizing pads and especially velcro on plastic ear cups, that is a much later modification.   I cant recall seeing and 22/26 helmets with hard cups velcroed in at all honestly,  if they didnt use the string retention, it was the leather elephant ear style cups on all Ive seen.   Those custom demo team helmets you can 110 percent be sure that they had a poured fit liner with the leather ear cups, which would explain their smooth custom shells.  Keep things clean and low profile.

 

That brow pad looks legit and the press on sizing pads but Im not liking that foam liner.  HGU-2/22/26 impact liners were always white, I don't know why they would paint it black when that foam is usually eaten away by paint and ruined which it looks like it has.  The HGU-55 used a black impact liner.  If you say thats not polystyrene, what kind of foam is it?  All those helmet impact liners are polystyrene to my knowledge.  When a custom fit poured liner is installed it wouldn't use that impact liner but would still have that brow pad.

 

Those Acousticom cups are much later in my opinion, I never saw any of their stuff til like the 90s and even more currently.  Older stuff was usually Roanwell, Astrocom, Electo-Voice, Sonex and a couple other smaller firms.  Acousticom started their business in 1980, and not really sure when they started producing stuff for aviation helmets etc.

 

Just sharing my observations, not trying to shatter things or cause arguments.   Id say it was put together later as a retirement gift perhaps. 

[Vark_07]

Duly noted, no problem .

I'm pretty much a beginner in the fligh helmet collectors' community (live in France, only own five, all reviewed here), so my goal on this forum is to share as much as I can find by myself, and confront this to the knowledge of you expert members in the US. Even if that means sometimes a little disappointment.
Unless they're fully named / labelled and historically accurate, I tend to think it is really common to see these kind of mysterious, probably mixed (and somewhat questionnable) sets on the market. Not to mention the faked or misidentified ones (I spot some, from time to time).

 

 

Back to our discussion, I had already checked the reference for the MX-8376 A/R earcups on NSN Center before making my review, these kind of parts were issued in 1969 so I didn't see anything odd to them.

Given what you are saying about the manufacturer who started business in 1980, and the short period of use for these 26/Ps within the 67th FS before being replaced py 55/Ps (1979 to 83-84-85 or so), there could still be a small chance for them to match, if -and only if- Acousticom started immediately producing aviation helmets' parts, as you pointed out. Yet, it appears unlikely.

The impact foam liner has indeed been slightly eaten by the black paint but only on its superficial surface.

As you saw, it's actually visible on the pics I have shared.
Its thickness is 1,5cm approximately, really rigid (contrary to the sizing pads' softness) but honestly there's nothing more I can tell about it, especially given the good arguments about poured liners you provided.

Remains the case of why and when the velcro-mounted earcups, and again, I have no further explaination to give. I take your word for it.

 

Perhaps you're right, that could be a retirement helmet.
Let's say, maybe the pilot's (or any decommissioned) 26/P from his old squadron stock partially retrofitted for civilian use, and his first used MBU-12 to go along with it ? There was also an OD USAF-type carry bag coming with the set, but unfortunately the label was torn, so I did not mention it in the first place.

[mohawkALSE]

I certainly want to help others and educate if I can here.  I know you are in Europe and Ive seen over the years its certainly tough to collect these kinds of things.  Ive seen in recent time the shipping prices have gone way high so Im sure European collectors would rather buy stuff from other Europeans vs having things shipped from overseas.   Ive definitely seen a number of put together helmets over the years to help fulfill the local market.   Even locally here in the US you really have to look at every little detail if authenticity really means something to you in collecting.  Some folks wont care, some like to build replicas for collections, some want the real deal and others even want the whole bit documented and named etc.

 

Being that liner did get damage from the paint, that would clearly be a Red tagged (non serviceable) item.  A life support shop would never put that on a rack for use like that, which is why Id say it would be more of a gift item.  Never know could be a post career item to use in civilian aircraft or warbirds, people will do their own stuff with surplus gear.  None the less, it is a very nice display piece to have in a collection.

[Vark_07]

Much appreciated .
Thanks to you, I've learnt a lot and made up my mind about what we know for sure, and what will remain uncertain or questionable about this helmet.
If others want to share their opinion, by all means they are welcome !

[Mikeym_us]

On 10/31/2020 at 10:47 PM, Av8er said:

For what it may be worth, we were switching to the HGU-55 when I was in Korea during 1983-84. When I was getting checked out in the OA-37 at Davis-Monthan in the summer of 1983 the 23 TASS had already converted to the HGU-55, so PACAF was a little bit behind the Stateside units. Odd that your helmet still has sizing pads for that period, as all helmets that were being issued during initial pilot training had custom poured foam/leather liners in their HGU-26 shells when I went I started pilot training in 1979. I saw my very first MBU-12 in late 1982, but they did not become common issue in PACAF until late 1983. Some people, myself included, could never get a MBU-12 to fit correctly and stayed with the MBU-5.

 

Another tidbit of Squadron history was floating around while I was in PACAF regarding the 67th Fighter Squadron patch. The story was that the Squadron suffered an embarrassing event while based in Korea during the Korean War, something to do with their base being overrun by enemy troops. The story goes that the Squadron patch has a chicken on it as a result of the incident, and that the Squadron would never be allowed to be stationed Stateside. Again, it is just a story that I have never been able to verify, but it was well known in Korea when I was stationed there.

I believe that was 8th TFW out of KunSan that had the dubious honor of being the Wing that abandoned base personel to be butchered by the North Koreans.

 

[Vark_07]

Thanks for your contribution.

 

Digging up this thread allows me as well to inform you people that I ended up finding that this helmet shell was unfortunately a "kitchen job".

Fellow French experts from a local flight gear forum pointed out many issues with it, including the ones we had previously discussed ; here are the most valuable ones :

• the weird painted liner that's not even made of styrene + the presence of sizing pads and thin edge beading that are anachronic to this early / mid 80's period of the pre-55/P transition era : the correct configuration for F-15's TFS grey shells was a 2-part poured liner + thick leather edgeroll,
• the visor housing screw heads are slotted and painted black ; HGU-2A/P / 26/P had silver Philips screw heads,
• the lack of gullwing cut to the visor housing, which, if not impossible, was pretty unlikely with single visor 26/P of this era,
• and finally, the "67th Fighter SQ" inscription on the sticker matches the post-Tactical Air Command squadron nomenclature rename circa 1992, but erratic for an early 80's set (that would be Tactical Fighter Squadron / 67th TFS). This squadron emblem round design was also approved in late 1995, anachronic too for a 26/P. There's more to it : I discovered anyway that the "sticker" was in fact a poor ink-jet print over transparent adhesive film ; the fighting cock image literally vanished away when I cleaned the housing with soap...

 

That being said, it was not entirely a scam : I'm glad the patched holes in the shell and velcroed earcups are legit (they showed me similar examples) - so is the green MBU-12/P that's a really valuable piece of gear.
Let's face it : by the time I bought and reviewed it (one of my very first shells) I was quite naive and far less experienced in the flight helmet range... not paying attention or even being able to notice the details that should have raised a doubt. Now that I'm 100% sure this shell was entirely put together, I have made up my mind to remove and correct all the issues with the parts, in order to make an acceptable and time frame accurate helmet out of it.

 

I'll post the refurbishment process pictures when I get the right parts and the job being done 🙂.

[FlightGearSTL]

Love the helmet. Lots of info written here. 

 

As far as the Thunderbirds go, the wore custom HGU2s until they got F16s in 1983. In 1983 the swithed to an HGU55 shell and still use (although now they are using combat edge 55s)

[Vark_07]

Quick update on the refurfishment process.

Here's what I've done with the housing, for starters.

• gullwing cut + repaint of the edges + artificial ageing
• home-made "moleskin-look-alike" band (a combination of felt and flax cloth glued together with contact cement + strong artificial ageing),
• vinyl custom-cut stickers (67th TFS + tricolor band -I had inverted the blue / red, it's been corrected since)) made by a friend - the F-15 silhouette remained untouched from previous state,
• small DYMO locker / rack label

 

 

I also dyed the chin and nape straps to make them look more greyish than immaculate white like they originally were.

Next step will be the NOS snap-on leather edgeroll (I already received) + 2-part form fit liner and new housing screws ; stay tuned 😉.

[cggill85]

Great improvements! How do you make the gull-wing cut to the visor?

[Vark_07]

No big deal, just using the rotating tool and burs I use daily at work.

Here's a "behind the scenes" picture montage of the early part of the process with pencil markings and the initial lower cut ; after that, I went freehand to improve the global rendering (wider, higher, with no angles).

 

 

The toughest part was the fake moleskin crafting (I couldn't find original bands, only expensive clothes / accesories I would have had to destroy).

Finding the right (and cheap) materials to obtain a satisfying look-alike aspect and all the ageing process was quite challenging, but utterly fun !


Pre-assembling / pre-ageing felt and flax cloth bands.

[mohawkALSE]

I thought maybe you had a copy of the TO, came out pretty good.  The HGU-26 TO shows a template for cutting it.  I have a copy of it I have to dig out, Ill try and post a pic of it.   That TO had changes in it all the way to 1995 or 96 and has all the various visor housings it it like the single visor housing, dual visor rams horns and dual visor PRU-36.  Also has the section on converting a 26P over to a 55P setup.

 

You can see how crude it was done in the life support shops in South East Asia.  This helmet was done up by a USAF life support shop in Udorn Thailand for a Army OV-1 pilot in 1969. 

 

[Vark_07]

Quick update, the job's done !

While trying in vain to adapt the snap edgeroll, I had the unpleasant surprise to discover the shell was in fact NOT an HGU-2A/P or -22/P type : way too thick.
With an average thickness of 2 to 3mm, and 4 to 5mm in the brow / skull area, it was in fact an... AFH-1 balistic helicopter shell ! 😲 (the patched holes' positions and fiber material inside confirmed my assessment). I was so disappointed, and mad speechless thinking about the guy that modified -and sold- this Franken-helmet as a -26/P...

 

I decided to go on regardless with my restoration, but I confess I faced some difficulties trying to adapt the poured liner and snap edgeroll to this shell.

Consequently, I first trimmed a fair amount of liner foam to make it fit the shell (not shown here).

 

As for the edgeroll, I had to remove the front plastic insert that was meant for 1-1,5mm thick shells, and therefore wouldn't adapt this thicker one.

Then I cut a 3cm-wide flap of exceeding leather form its back, bonded it with contact glue on the front / cheek area's edges to make it look like a "custom fit" (sewn or glued) leather edgeroll.

The bottom / nape thicker part of the edgeroll could luckily still snap, and covered perfectly the junction with my custom leather job close to the chinstrap screws area.

 

 

Also, the original HGU-XX screws were too short to acomodate the visor housing (regards to the AFH-1 being 3mm thicker than an HGU shell !).

To fix this issue and compensate my shell thickness, I had to trim 3mm-deep slots through the inner side to have the counter-thread "bolts" protrude as they should on the outside.

Finally, I artificially weathered / aged the visor knob and the paint on the shell, housing and bayonet receivers (+ added Gentex plates to them).

It might be an AFH-1 shell, it almost looks like a legit 26/P now !

 

Here's a preview of what can be shown today (especially the inside), I'll take better photos on a display head this weekend by daylight 😉.

Hope you enjoy the final result !

-Vark

 

 

 

 

[Vark_07]

Here are the final pictures before putting back this restored helmet on display 😎.

All in all, it was a fun and challenging endeavour, given the true nature of the shell (AFH-1, for reminders).
 

 

 

Please note that a part of the patina is actually an artificial ageing I applied here and there (to the NOS original visor knob above, for example), in order to make the rendering as much realisitic, "flight used", and homogenous as possible.

 

Hope you enjoy !

-Vark

[mohawkALSE]

Came out nice.  Too bad it was a total frankenhelmet but it will be a nice display.  I'm surprised that person didn't make a HGU-36 replica out of it being a AFH-1 shell.

[Mikeym_us]

Yeah I had been wondering that too since if that had been a HGU-2 shell where were the air holes at the top of the helmet. So someone took a helicopter pilot helmet and made a Faux HGU-2/26 helmet?

[Vark_07]

Alas, that was hard to believe for me but it happened to be true. The shell thickness and the patched holes' position revealed the scam.

 

However, you are mistaken about the cooling holes 😉.

You've got to know the early (1961-66) and intermediate (66-69) HGU-2A/P hemets had indeed cooling holes (through the styrene liner as well), but the late version (69-74) HGU-2A/P and the following single and dual-visor HGU-26/P were based on the HGU-22/P shell that did not sport any holes.
Also note the -22/P was never a "flight helmet" all by itself, it is merely a raw shell without any equipment.