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I need help with a flight helmet


Alamo
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I have a flight helmet i believe to be a Gentex HGU-33 ? ...Not much left of it but i'm going to change that.😉I found  a  Gentex stamp on the inside  and  the name Jacobs  hand written too.My brother gave me this about 40 years ago, i believe it to be from the late 70's or early 80's..There's  a little more to the story but i'll wait for  any help you might have....Thanks in advance.

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Its not a 33P, this is a USAF HGU-2 from the early 60s.  Can tell right away by the thin edge beading and color and then the swing arm ear cup mounts.  I have a 1963 dated HGU-2A/P with the same swing arm ear cups.  I think this is a straight 2 since the shell itself lacks some vent holes in the top area.  Thats got enough to it where it should clean up/restore nicely when you find the parts.

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I dig the helmet and the cut out visor cover...the early earcups are cool....

the screws on the visor look like hardware store machine screws, same with the right nape strap screw...LOL looking at the inside, yeah those screws have got to go ....

 

but overall a nice shell...I dig it...

 

 

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I'd say it might be an early example of the third version HGU-2A/P based on the 22-P shell that was issued in 68-69 or so. These latest 2A/Ps did not feature the 3 iconic shell's cooling holes of the earlier variants, which is a major evidence I noticed on your pictures.

Full plastic visor housing like yours, lacking the metal or plastig additional edges on the visor lock track iconic of the early versions, appeared on the mid-60's examples.

Finally, the fact that the bayonet receivers were monted downwards indicate the latest "J"-bayonets fitted on the MBU-5/P mask, older in-line or "T"-bayonets typical of the early 60's would have had the receivers mounted straight.

 

So, my feeling is that it is a mid to late 60's HGU-2A/P shell.

Clearly not an HGU-33/P anyway 😉.

 

Apart from that, it indeed sports the main characteristics of the -2A/Ps : spring-loaded earcups of the H-154/AIC headset with grommets / studs to attach it externally (the H-154A headset variant without metal arms fixed with velcro on foam pads was introduced in the late 60s / early 70's), a thin tan edgeroll beading, and the full plastic visor housing with a custom-made "gullwing cut".

(careful though, it seems to miss the side nylon spacer tracks for the visor, here you have the visor housing directly screwed on the shell...)

 

A nice shell from the HGU-2A/P series anyway, and a good starting point for a restoration project !

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Thanks to  everyone so far on the info, it's greatly appreciated  and i would like as much input as possible no matter  how small.....As  i said before my brother gave this to me and said i should clean it up , paint it anyway i want and put on display....He had bought two helmets and took parts off this one to make one good helmet.I was building a  lot of WW2 plane models at the time and had gotten pretty good with an airbrush so i guess he thought i would do  a  good job on the helmet as he had no use for it anymore...I saw his helmet after he finished & it was really nice .I don't know what he took off this one, i think he told me  the visor,liner  and  i  assume the tracking since there is none on mine . He  passed  away  in 2002 so  i'm going to put this helmet back together, maybe not exact  or period correct  but it will be nice  when i'm done. He  also gave me  a MP  helmet  from the Vietnam era  which i just sold  to help  fund this project.I'm still  learning so  if  anyone has any suggestions  or  extra  parts laying around please let me know, i don't care if they are used they can't look any worse than what i have!🙃

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  • 4 weeks later...

So what's the best way to install a new foam liner?...Don't  think it's going in one piece.......Do  i  cut it  in 2  pieces?.....3  pieces?

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phantomfixer
16 hours ago, Alamo said:

So what's the best way to install a new foam liner?...Don't  think it's going in one piece.......Do  i  cut it  in 2  pieces?.....3  pieces?

looking at a few 2As, the liner is in 3 pieces... 

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The 1 piece styro liner for the HGU-26p era of helmets will be the easiest to find, either by online auction of direct from one of a couple of places here in the US.

If sold correctly it should include the Ensolite rubber brow pad (top in the photos) that glues in after the liner is installed (see photos)

Guessing (by the spring loaded earcups) your helmet is/was an HGU 2Ap at origin. 

If/when you get a liner, be very careful what you choose to use, to attach it to the shell with.

Most glues will melt the styrofoam and ruin the instal.

You helmet looks like it might be a large size and will need a large liner.

The photos are the latest and last 1 piece liner(s) for the HGU-22 sub assembly., medium on the left and the large one on the right.

HGU-22 was the last issue of type, supplied as a basic stripped shell from which the desired helmet configuration (T.O.) could be built (single visor, dual visor, etc.)

and is identical to previous HGU basic physical designs.

 

 

 

 

 

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HGU-22 was the last issue of type, supplied as a basic stripped shell from which the desired helmet configuration (T.O.) could be built (single visor, dual visor, etc.)

and is    > "identical to previous HGU basic physical designs."

 

To clarify

Identical in all aspects except the 22p did not include the 3 hole feature in the crown of the previous issued, HGU shell.

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Thanks for the replies......I have  a  one piece  liner  i  bought but my question is : Obviously  this liner  won't  just pop into the shell so can i cut this liner right down the middle in 2  pieces and  install one piece  at  a time  into shell?........Installation   is  my question.

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It should just roll into the shell without to much trouble. They do not cut them up in the factory or the field to get them in. This stuff is not rocket science. Don't over think it, should go together just fine.

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It's  just that i've  seen these liners for sale in one piece  or  2  pieces  and thought  that might be  the way  it is....And  where  i got it from told me i might have to cut it....These  parts  are hard to find  and  expensive   so i  wanted to  ask  experts...I don't  want to screw  'em up, i'm not buying them again..Thanks for the advice.

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4 hours ago, Alamo said:

It's  just that i've  seen these liners for sale in one piece  or  2  pieces  and thought  that might be  the way  it is....And  where  i got it from told me i might have to cut it....These  parts  are hard to find  and  expensive   so i  wanted to  ask  experts...I don't  want to screw  'em up, i'm not buying them again..Thanks for the advice.

Def dont cut it, they do just sorta slide or roll in from the front or rear of the shell.  Might have to pull the shell apart with your hands a little from the side like donning a helmet.   There were various impact liners for the various APH and HGU series helmets.  Earlier ones were 2 or 3 piece designs, not cut and then later liners were mostly 1 piece.  Depends on what model helmet it was and how many piece it was.

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  • 11 months later...

Been  a while ..Got it all cleaned up , base coated the inside  and outside but not done with design....Need  a brow pad if  anyone has an extra...Or  i could make my own......thanks

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