I have just decided to order a helmet and am wondering how many out there are using them?
and what brand/type.... Dont mean to hijack anything here but input would be good for us all. comment about placement of GPS unit on yoke too was
food for thought as well as review to weather other things present potintual risk in case of impact? Now everyone go check your ELT.......



take care

paul

David Clark makes a helmet that incorporates their head sets for a bit under $400. I used to wear helicopter helmets with built in headsets...I'm sure there's a way to convert them to GA plugs. They were nice and quiet, but pretty heavy and bulky. Probably pretty expensive, too. I can barely sit upright in my 170 without a helmet, so it's a non-option for me.

for you tall guys...take some of the foam out of the seat, I'm only 66"
but did in the cub as I didnt like looking up at the steel so close.

We have these cool Lynx brand helmet/headsets for the ultralights that integrate the helmet with the headset earcups. They work really well and are quite comfy.

Zane, do you have link to headset company? is the a post somewhere to discussion about helmets in past? or shall I start one........

glaciercub wrote:Zane, do you have link to headset company? is the a post somewhere to discussion about helmets in past? or shall I start one........

Here is some retailer's page who sells them... You can search Google for "lynx helmet." There have to be other manufacturers making them though I would imagine.

http://www.air-techinc.com/catclassstd.asp?classID=lynx&typ=avionics&categoryID=lynxsystemcomponents

Try this one on for size. This is the one I see on most acro pilots.

http://www.flightsuits.com/helm_hgu55.html

Have been considering a helmet myself since they cut off my nose and rebuilt it with a lot of my forehead and various other bits and pieces.

Really started thinking about it after a fella put his 185 on it'w back at Wilson Bar. Only damage to him was 40 some stiches in the forehead he claimed came form his GPS MOUNT. I now take my GPS out once at McCall.

Be safe

Chris C

In Berk's case, I believe that he hit his head on the door post. Even a single accross the chest shoulder harness would have kept him from hitting the door post. That is of course if it had been tightened prior to impact. With the manual flaps, the harness has to be a bit loose to reach the flap lever.

Tim

Tim, what you said is pretty much the impression I was under. With my AeroFab shoulder harnesses, you have to manually tighten them, and they have to be REALLY loose to get to the flaps on the floor. That probably explains why Berk suffered head trauma while his wife had broken neck vertebrae, probably from having her head whip forward while fastened in tight.

It's another case for inertial reel harnesses.

The left front (pilot's) station was equipped with a shoulder harness with an inertia reel mounted to the forward carry through spar and a seat belt mounted to the cabin floor. The attach points for the inertia reel and the seat belt remained intact. The webbing was cut in three places. When the webbing extending from the inertia reel was given a sharp pull by hand, the reel locked. Comparison of the pilot's station shoulder harness installation to installation instructions provided by BAS Incorporated indicated that the installation appeared to conform to the instructions....

She further reported that his seat belt and shoulder harness remained fastened after the accident and she cut them while attempting to extricate him.

In Berk's case, I believe that he hit his head on the door post. Even a single accross the chest shoulder harness would have kept him from hitting the door post.

It sounds like he was wearing an inertial reel shoulder harness. With a helmet too who knows what the outcome would have been, but the odds would have been better.

I have a helmet that I would wear on long days of flying jumpers (door open,lots of noise for long periods of time ect)I liked how quiet is was .Also felt pretty good when you have a bunch of yahoos chucking their carcass out the back........Plenty of people have had pilot chutes go over the tail,heads slam into it you name it.......Some people thought they were pretty cool and tried to poke fun at me for wearing a helmet in a 207,,,,I would laugh and tell them to get the f#$ck out I think helmets are a good idea if they don't bug you and are comfortable........Oh and also if your face is about to go through the window it couln't hurt

blackrock wrote:It sounds like he was wearing an inertial reel shoulder harness. With a helmet too who knows what the outcome would have been, but the odds would have been better.

Good eye...I missed that part.

Glacercub,

I don't wear one flying in the backcountry, but I probably should. I am counting on my BAS shoulder harness to work.

If you can afford it I would highly recommend buying a MSA Gallet flight helmet. Carbon Fiber/Kevlar, low profile, super comfortable, and VERY lightweight. It is the standard issue for the many of the European military airwings, our own Coast Guard, multiple SAR flight crews and many medevac crews.

One thing you have to remember is that helmets like the the Gentex high G helmets used in the fighters are not the best helmet for our low level high noise environment. Helicopter helmets are designed for forward impact and bird strike environments in addition to being surrounded by noise. If your life depends on it don't skimp on the protection.

In my job all pilots are required to wear helmets and even though it may not save us in a crash it may during turbulence and t-o and ldg mishaps. Most pilots who need new helmets are going with these and rave about them. I can't say enough good about them especially if you include CEP. Noise cancelling doesn't compare when you have used CEP, also standard now for military rotorheads.

Only 2 distributers in the US and Tiger Performance is great and have lots of experience to help set you up. PM me if you have other questions or want some photos.

Here is their link: http://www.tigerperformance.com/aviationhelmets.html