Helmets

[willedoo]

Not a helmet, but related. Yesterday I picked up this anti gravity suit (G suit, speed jeans). It's a PPK-1 Series 2 suit, circa 1959 and looks to be in NOS unissued condition. Second photo in black and white is the same model suit in use. The nice thing about that time period is that it's within that five or six years when development of pilot altitude and anti gravity gear was right at the coal face. Particularly from the mid 50's, the pace of new development was cracking on and models of equipment were superseded very quickly. By the early 60's, most of the technology was done and dusted with no reason to re-invent the wheel.

 

As an example, this 1959 suit is basically the same as they wear today. A bit like how the internal workings of a mechanical watch are not much different than forty years ago. Some gear keeps improving, other gear reaches a peak where if it's not broken, don't fix it. Ditto with the altitude compensating partial pressure suits. Development started around 1956 and within five years there was no need to go any further. The current partial pressure suit the Russian Air Force and Navy use for the highest flights is the same one that came out in 1961.

 

With G suits, where the improvements will come is in the aircraft systems controlling them. The Russians are developing a new automatic control unit for the G suits to be used on the Su-57 stealth fighter. With current technology, by the time the automatic system detects the G's and delivers pressure, it's always lagging that little bit behind. In other words, it's reactive. The new system will be predictive. The computers and sensors read all the relevant parameters like AOA, altitude, airspeed, aircraft weight, pilot weight and stick input to predict the number of G's you are about to pull. It then delivers pressure to the suit instantly instead of a second or two later. I think from memory it will be a nine G suit but the extra benefit is there right through the G range.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by willedoo

[pmccarthy]

Do you have a museum or will you be opening one?

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, pmccarthy said:

Do you have a museum or will you be opening one?

No, I don't. When I re-locate and retire I have plans to finally set up the gear on display as a private collection. A bit like a private museum but not open to the public, just invitation or request only. The last five years have been on hold and it gets frustrating having a collection packed away in boxes and not on display.

 

When it comes to flight gear collectors, some stick to one thing and many others have a main country of interest (usually their own country) and dabble in gear of other countries as a secondary thing. Quite a lot of Americans stick to U.S. only gear. I still have a small amount of U.S. gear from years ago when I first got the collecting bug, but have little interest in it now and will move most of it on. For quite a few years now I've stuck almost exclusively to my main passion, Soviet and Russian Federation gear. I have a small amount of Eastern Block gear but these days my only non Soviet interest is some of the East German gear.

 

The aircrew life support equipment is the core interest but I also collect things in that orbit, like air crew log books and documents, bits and pieces of aircraft and the like. Luckily I got most of the common low hanging fruit stuff when it was cheaper and more plentiful. Now I can concentrate on the rarer stuff. It just takes more money and patience to track down than the more common things. At least I'll never get bored in retirement. Just restoring a couple of ejection seats will keep me busy for a while.

[spacesailor]

Rarer stuff !.there,s a 1d black stamp, going to auction, & they expect $ mutiple millions.

I HAD what l consider twice as rare !.

A 2d black , postage due stamp.

BUT

Because its Not " postage paid "they ( stamp dealers ) call it a cover, not stamp !. 

But  if a millionaire has a 1d black, what would they pay for the 2d black ?. ( 2d red was the next rare stamp )

Long gone to a ' school show & tell '.it was never returned.

And surly missed.

spacesailor

[willedoo]

Saw this on a collector's facebook group. A lot of truth in it.

 

[Marty_d]

The two are not mutually exclusive.  He could be looking at "fireman's helmets"...

[old man emu]

I just checked the prices for some limited edition and signed by the author books that I got back in the late 80's and they are fetching around $200 each. Even my early Casio digital watch is worth a lot more. And my bike goes up a few hundred dollars each year.

 

They were collected in my youth. Now I just seem to collect other people's discards that I could make something from, to the point where my grandson does an amusing parody of me, stooped walk and all. Little sh|t!

[willedoo]

It's interesting how things are valued. With books, condition & rarity would be the biggest factor I think. Limited edition would be a big part of the rarity. I would guess coins and stamps would be similar.

 

With flight gear, rarity is number one factor in value. That rarity could be due to rarity of the item alone, connection to a notable person, or a combination of both. With non rare gear, mint condition doesn't always mean higher value, as a lot of collectors prefer used and flown items that have operational history. I would think that flight gear linked to a notable person would equate in the book world to signed copies.

 

I only have two items autographed to me; the only signed things I own. One is one of Matt Taylor's harmonicas, the other is a Michael Luenig cartoon print. It was the one with the chap who had hairs growing everywhere. I never met Mr. Luenig personally, but a friend of mine was assigned as his PA when he did a guest gig at the local uni. She knew I was a fan, so asked Michael Luenig to autograph a print for me. I hadn't asked for it, but still felt like a bit of a groupie when she gave it to me.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by willedoo

[facthunter]

So you should, but anyhow you got it. I bit of good GUILT goes a long way. Nev

[willedoo]

It's been a long time between posts. My main shed renovations are at the stage of a much needed clean out, so I'm getting to the point of sorting some stored flight gear and moving on superflous multiples and unwanted items. I've decided to gift these helmets to a couple of collectors I'm associated with, one in France and the other in Greece. They're extra to my requirements and are better off where they're appreciated instead of a life in storage.

 

I got them from a lady in Vinnytsia about twelve years ago, and realising how rare they were, I bought all of them, hence the extras. At first glance, they look much like the garden variety Soviet leather flight helmet, but these are different externally and internally and were only made in small numbers. In the years since I obtained these helmets I've only ever seen one for sale. They're rare but not valuable as in worth heaps of money. They were manufactured at Rostikinsky in NW Moscow where all the standard leather helmets were made, but the big difference is the use of the same noise cancelling headsets that the cloth ground crew helmets use. These use the glycerine filled earpads and the larger Ukrainian made speakers. The speakers are only different from standard in physical size; they still have the same 1500 ohm resistance. 

 

There's no literature or documentation on them, so I can only assume they were designed to try for noise reduction in certain helicopters, possibly the larger Mi-6 and Mi-26. Having said that, I reckon they'd go ok in the screaming Il-76 transport. The low bypass Soloviev D-30 turbofans on them are deafening. I have two of each of these helmet types spare, so will be sending what you see here to each of the collectors overseas (minus the foam heads).

 

[willedoo]

I finally located the leather helmets in the above post. The big problem is that a lot of gear was packed away in boxes in a rushed fashion with inadequate labelling, so it can be like finding a needle in a haystack. On the up side, I'm finding lots of gear I haven't seen for a long time and seeing the need for a lot of maintenance regarding storage and humidity.

 

A big bonus yesterday was finding these two helicopter helmets that have been elusive for a very long time. So long in fact, I'd forgotten I owned the one on the left of the photo. It's a combat helmet, either from a Karmov 50/52 or a Mil-28. The reason I know that is because it has the ten pin comm lead plug that is used for encrypted communications, and also the helmet accessory mount to take the look down/shoot down targeting system. Most of the non combat helicopters have a slightly different mount to take night vision goggles instead of the targeting sight.

 

The helmet on the right is a fairly rare variant and experimental rather than production as far as I know. The only difference between it and standard is the type of boom mic and the way it's mounted and wired, with a connector on the left helmet side to take an 02 mask with an inbuilt mic. That particular mask type is a modification of the fast jet pressure demand mask with the pressure compensating gear removed. It was used mainly in older airliners and transports mainly for the convenience of having an inbuilt microphone, and is only rated up to 12,000 metres due to it's use of a standard, non compensating expiry valve. It's one possibility the helmet was set up for doing higher altitude test flights.

 

Edited 2 hours ago by willedoo

[facthunter]

ARE you a Jet Jockey or something?. Just Kidding,  Wearing Helmets reduces your awareness of your Immediate environment and if it's not a Perfect fit it Hurts. I just hope they are never Mandated in small planes. I know you collect this stuff. How do you stop Mould?

[willedoo]

19 minutes ago, facthunter said:

I know you collect this stuff. How do you stop Mould?

It's an ongoing problem in this subtropical environment. With stored gear I usually try to pack it away in drier times and use silica gel packs. In this climate anything prone to mould would have to be displayed museum style behind glass to have a chance. Clove oil diluted with water in a spray mister bottle is a good mould killer/preventative. It's expensive stuff but goes a long way at the dilution rate. Another good practice with storing gear in those plastic tubs is to give it a squirt of mortein before fastening the lid. It's amazing the amount of damage one silverfish can do when it only has your gear to eat.

 

One problem with those cliplock plastic wheeled tubs is that the lids might look tight, but the moist air can still seep in around the middle section of the lid unless you have weight on top of it or a strap around it to tighten the lid down. Best to buy the more expensive black tubs with coloured lids. The reason the really clear ones are cheap is because the type of plastic used to produce the clear ones is cheaper. The clearer the plastic, the harder and more brittle it is, more prone to cracking with age and uv.

 

I think as age progresses on, hobbies need re-evaluating. What was sustainable won't always be. I'm thinking of starting by offloading multiples and doubles of gear that's excess to requirements and then go from there. Some of it would be better off with someone who can appreciate it more rather than having it stored away in boxes.