Pilot Helmets and Flight Gear Vintage Gallery

As a service company we had the opportunity to provide upgrade services in the area of flight gear equipment to several NATO Air Forces from the mid 70's to the late 90's. Through our long term work we gathered an extensive collection of pilot helmets, pilot equipment and flight gear. With this page we want to share some information about the technology as our collection was given away in the late 90's and does no longer exist. So this page is thought as some sort of vintage gallery for enthusiasts.

	British Pressure Helmet Type 12P, MK3 & MK4 Descriptive, Instruction and Service Manual - Third Edition - ML Aviation Company Ltd - 3.5MB PDF file This high altitude helmet was phased out by the German Luftwaffe in 1980-1982 and was obtained from the Luftwaffenerprobungsstelle 81 in Manching. All pressure helmets have been in brand new condition. We were told that this helmet type was usually flown on F-104G Starfighter and was of no need anymore as the F-104 was replaced by the MRCA Tornado in the early eighties.
	Russian GSh-6A pressurized helmet Russian GSh-6A pressurized helmet for high altitude flights. This helmet was usually used on MIG-21, MIG-23 and MIG-25 fighter/interceptor airplanes. The clear pressure visor is electrically heated to prevent fogging of the visor. The introduction of this helmet happened in around 1968. Phased-out samples of this helmet were obtained after german reunification in 1991 from the former east-german Luftwaffe.
	American HGU 2A/P Jet Helmet This HGU 2A/P helmet is equipped with a MBU 5P oxygen mask. This special version of the helmet is painted in green for cammoflage purposes and had a clear visor for night flights. This helmet was obtained from a Wild Weasel unit based in Germany.
	American APH-5A Helicopter Helmet This is an original helicopter helmet flown in Vietnam on Hueys (Bell UH-1, etc.) as well as on reconaissance and transport airplanes. The originally white helmet was painted olive to prevent easy sighting through ground troops. Note the boom mounted M33A/A1C microphone, which was already in use since the 50's. Note the insignia of the U.S. Army 1st Cavalry Airmobile on the visor cover. This helmet was obtained from his original owner.
	American SPH-4 helicoper helmet This SPH-4 helicoper helmet is a special edition equipped with the standard oxygen mask attachment. This helmet was flown on a Super Cobra during extreme flight maneuvers for testing purposes where it was necessary for the pilot to use an oxygen mask. A handcrafted metalplate allowed the additional attachment of the microphone boom at the left side of the helmet. (1985)
	American APH-6 dual visor helmet This helmet was flown by the German Luftwaffe and was phased out in the 70's in favor for the french Gueneau helmet. This helmet is equipped with a one piece visor housing assembly. Note the shilouette of the Playboy Bunny on the visor housing. This helmet was used together with a MBU 5P oxygen mask.
	American MBU-4/P oxygen mask This specific mask shown on the image is a quite rare item as it is a military oxygen mask which was converted for civil use for the german Lufthansa. A 1cm diameter plastic chip with the Lufthansa logo and the Lufthansa writing on it were attached under one of the green rubber straps near the blue ribbon. This mask type was originally introduced in WWII and in use until the late 50's.
	Russian KM-34 oxygen mask This mask is equipped with an external fiberglass shell. This mask was obtained from the german Bundesluftwaffe after reunification.
	American MBU-5/P oxygen mask Manufacturer is Sierra. This oxygen mask was obtained from the German Luftwaffe.
	Martin-Baker Ejection Seat for Lockheed F-104G Starfighter Bundesluftwaffe (GAF - German Air Force)
	Martin-Baker Ejection Seat for Lockheed F-104G Starfighter Bundesluftwaffe (GAF - German Air Force)
	Ejection Seat
	Ejection Seat
	USAF pressurized suit with complete garment
	F-86 Radar Unit
	American Tank helmet This helmet was standard equipment for tank crews.

The author in the backseater cockpit of one of the last F-105 Thud Wild Weasel in 1983 at Ramstein AFB.

More pictures can be found here!

Some information about the pictures.
Almost all pictures were made between 1977 and 1994 in the pre-digital photography era. So it was necessary to scan pictures or slides to provide the information on this web site. All pictures are scanned with an Epson Perfection 3170 Photo. Especially the early images were made with a Polaroid instant camera and have some quality flaws after all these years.

Copyright (C) 1977 - 2005 by Howard Fuhs. All images on this page have a digital watermark for copyright reasons.
All Pictures Watermarked - Watermark Hash #293465178AAHF
It is not allowed to use any of the pictures without prior written permission of Howard Fuhs.