5225 Posted January 13, 2021 Share #1 Posted January 13, 2021 Good afternoon, I bought a US Air Force flight helmet, it is signed Capt. McGee. I was wondering if it was possible that the helmet once belonged to General Charles McGee (Tuskegee Airman). I shot an email to USAF museum, haven't received a reply yet. I'm not even sure if the style would match the helmets they used to fly then, as I don't know much about these. If anyone has any input, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted January 14, 2021 Share #2 Posted January 14, 2021 can't help with the name, unless his name was Bobbie.... anyway the mod tag is pretty cool.. nice helmet, hope it pans out for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayward Son Posted January 14, 2021 Share #3 Posted January 14, 2021 Fantastic helmet! Congratulations! Even if it is not related to the General, that is a tough find with everything intact, especially the tags. On a side note, try some Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner on the suspension assembly leather. You can find it at a good price in the auto care section at Walmart. It has worked very well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5225 Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share #4 Posted January 14, 2021 Thank you, I'll try that. It does look a bit rough on the inside. I guess the whole thing looks pretty fragile, so I didn't mess with it too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark_07 Posted January 14, 2021 Share #5 Posted January 14, 2021 That is one fine named example ! Everything seems to be present, with a gorgeous patina and a stylish writing. According to what the label says, it's a P-1B shell which was retrofitted to the P-4A standard (with the central rubber knob + visor track, and comm), the USAF decal's central position partially masked by the external visor addition is a valuable confirmation (brand new P-4s had two smaller decals on the sides, behind the visor's tilting mechanism). The P-4A standard being introduced in 1957 or so, it's safe to say your set was used as it is in the late 50's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horridohutch Posted January 15, 2021 Share #6 Posted January 15, 2021 As stated, great helmet. I would be investigating his rank during the time frame of the use of this helmet. Capt? That is a lower ranking officer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5225 Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share #7 Posted January 18, 2021 Thanks everyone for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5225 Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share #8 Posted January 18, 2021 On 1/14/2021 at 7:49 PM, horridohutch said: As stated, great helmet. I would be investigating his rank during the time frame of the use of this helmet. Capt? That is a lower ranking officer... Great idea, thank you. I looked on Wikipedia and it looks like he was a captain in 1944 and in late 50s he was a lieutenant colonel. I guess it answers my question. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72psb Posted January 18, 2021 Share #9 Posted January 18, 2021 On 1/14/2021 at 3:46 PM, Vark_07 said: That is one fine named example ! Everything seems to be present, with a gorgeous patina and a stylish writing. According to what the label says, it's a P-1B shell which was retrofitted to the P-4A standard (with the central rubber knob + visor track, and comm), the USAF decal's central position partially masked by the external visor addition is a valuable confirmation (brand new P-4s had two smaller decals on the sides, behind the visor's tilting mechanism). The P-4A standard being introduced in 1957 or so, it's safe to say your set was used as it is in the late 50's. I own numerous P4s. Every one with the small Hap Arnold wing decal only has one on the wearers left side. Just for info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark_07 Posted January 18, 2021 Share #10 Posted January 18, 2021 Good to know, 72psb, thanks for correcting. Aside from the numerous web examples stored on my hard drive archives with the left side decal, I actually had one with a decal on the right so I assumed these decals used to be placed on both sides. Then it occured to me, when I looked back at this picture after reading your post, that the whole helmet had been reversed (by mirror effect - don't know why, though, but it was clearly misleading). So I indeed take this "two smaller decals" statement back, sorry about the wrong info I gave 😅. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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