Helmet age

must refrain from sarcastic comment about Navy piolots and liking you................deep breath...............deep breath.......


I have always thought it was 5-6 years......but what do I know............

 

It worked out nicely when I was stationed in the UK..... I could get their(pilots) extra gas ration coupons.... 23 cents a gallon on base, instead of 70 cents off base..... In 3 years I put 90,000 miles on my TR Mark III...... I knew England's roads better than a lot of the natives....... For an inlisted, that's a nice savings......

I stated that(liked),that way to be sure it wasn't taken to the dark-side.... After all I was in the Navy..... Was in the Air Force as well..... Same job...

 

I would use the 5 year as a rule of thumb, although 2 of my helmets ive had for only a year and a half is starting to show its age already.

 

Ragnar has never washed the inside of the outside of his helmet. He never washes his hair either. He does brush his teeth. There is an old Norse axiom that states, "Theier ain't nothin worse than a Viking without teeth."

 

The life of a helmet.... Reminds me of when General Chuck Yeager came into my shop(US Air Force, UK )... And I didn't know who he was, other than he was a general..... He say's "I've got a problem with the headset in my helmet".... so I'm looking at it, and feeling it for flex,etc..... and ask him How long have you had this helmet (it is 1971).... and he said he broke the sound barrier wearing it.... and I thought to myself ... So who hasn't, that doesn't tell me how long he's had the helmet.... So I ask him in a different way.... "AND... What year was that".... He said back in the early/mid 50's..... So I say.... Well.... They only have a shelf life of 7 years max...... He says, It's his lucky helmet..... So I tell him I would not like him to leave here without a safe helmet, and what I'd like to do is fix you up with a new helmet, with all the astronaut soft pads(for longer hours of wear at a time)fitted to your head, and no hot spots..... I'll have all your outside looking the same, and you can walk out the door with both helmets and wear which ever one you want..... So for the next couple of hours I had him in my shop with out the base brass hovering around..... and as we talked that's when I learned he was the "1st person" to break the sound barrier..... and a lot of other neat things he had done.... Which came out in a movie years later( 80's I think)"All the Right Stuff"..... So you never know how long you may want to keep a helmet.... When you find one that's comfy and does all the tricks..... I think the washable liners are the best change ever.... and a skull cap to go with it....

 

Very cool story Monk! That must have been an awesome experience. Yeager = stud

 

Great story, Monk! Yeager is a bonafide American hero IMO, and "The Right Stuff" is one of my favorite movies of all time.


I've heard 5 years is average lifespan for helmets, due mostly to UV rays' damage over time, with carbon fiber lids being a little more prone to decay due to UV rays.

Whatever. By the time my helmet is a few years old I'm ready for a new one anyway. Can always keep the old one for a backup if needed.

 

General Yeager broke the "sound barrier" in 1947. There are several posed photos of the General online with the Bell aircraft in the background. He is holding a standard USAF helmet, wearing lightweight flight coveralla and a parachute.

In this pic also posed the flight suit is a partial pressure suit probably made by the David Clark Co of Worcester, Mass. The helmet portion is only a fibreglass shell. Partial pressure suits were twixed in the mid 60s in favor of full pressure suits developed for NASA's X-15 project and the USAF Aerospace Research Pilots School at Edwards AFB,CA where then Colonel Yeager was Commandant of the school.

http://www.acepilots.com/yeager_x1a.jpg

A brief bio of General Yeager can be found easily including two autobios.

So Monk, what have you been smoking? Some of that bluegrass they grow down South?

 

Sounds to me like you think I'm lying.... What you're missing is this happened to me about 35/40 years ago, and I was off maybe 5 years on when he broke the sound barrier. If I wanted to be sure my story would stand up to trivia freaks, I could have looked all that crap up myself. Plus the fact that I saw the movie, I'm sure they said the year he broke the sound barrier, I couldn't remember that either, some pips(me) just aren't that good on trivia details. And whatever helmet he had in the link you posted(which doesn't work by-the-way)was probably pretty new then, and hadn't added all his personal stuff on it at that time.

I've been lucky to have met quite a few pips that are famous, and I'm reluctant to tell those stories because of pips like yourself. But sometimes my memory fades, and I forget you'll are out there. So I'll share a piece of my life, and sure enough you'll pop out of the woodwork...... Piss Off

 

Also, Chuck could have just meant that the helmet I fixed(ear speakers)was the normal helmet he had, and wore in that time, "other than when wearing a pressure suit and/or pressure helmet" for that matter. Another reason I like him, he may not be hung up on details either.

 

I'll sell you my "The older I get the faster I was" T-shirt for ten bucks cash. I used to wear it when playing Trivial Pursuit.

If the links are not working, try plugging "Chuck Yeager" or "Bell X1" into Wikipedia. Lots of pix, dates and facts. Great pages on other "pips" too. Have you met Catherine Zeta-Jones? She is hot.

 

nice there, monk

:flame:

 

She is....Hot..... I did have lunch with Loretta Lynn..... I was actually invited by her bus driver I met at a truck stop, while we were fueling(me a semi).... She was a puppy love of my youth.... But her driver introduced me to her and invited me to sit with them for lunch....

 

I get along with my Older Brother, but he's always interrupting with crap like semantics/trivia/and numerous other details.To the point, I can't even remember what I was talking about.

This is one reason I like the forums, At least I can say and read without the interruptions . It's like a forced "Roberts Rules of Order".

I don't mind a debate if both get to say what they want without the interruptions.

Light bulb just went off! I just figured out why people like to text on their cells, instead of talking to each other.... Did I say I hate Phones....

 

I found that pic of chuck..... That was not the helmet he brought me... that thing isn't even a pressure helmet either.... It's way old ......

 

Yikes, I can't find "piss off" in either Roberts or my debate text from school. I do still have my USAF PTO manual from The Brooks School of Aerospace Medicine just down the road apiece from Lackland AFB.

Have you ever met Elvis or spotted him anywhere? You know how those rumors fly around.

 

Where's DeepDish when you need him!

 

Lost in space?

 

I was referring to "my Robert's rules of order" ...... Robert being my middle name.......:thumbsup:

I see Elvis everytime I go though Vegas...... I did meet Steve McQueen Though.... Back in "about" '62...... I liked Elvis, but I'd have to say Steve was my favorite, along with James Dean.... No, I didn't meet him....

 

I have to admit I am outclassed when it comes to meeting some of those dead folks, but your statement:


"I was trained in the U.S. Navy about everything there was to know, about the life and proper fitting of aircraft helmets.", still has me worried about whether or not this is fact or just a little over the top.