flight helmets

robertstodaro

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2003
Messages
471
Location
humble tx usa
Aircraft
618 dominator
Total Flight Time
500
So you got a new headset and it won't fit your old helmet.

So you'er flying an "invisible" helmet, smart.(don't take my word, ask yourself)

Times up. This week go out and buy a half helmet at your local scooter store.$65.oo

Cut out some side holes for the earcups.zero dollar

Cover the rough edges with vynal stick on trim from the local autoparts store.$5.oo

Cut the top out of the helmet liner and reglue the liner cover so that it looks nice.zero dollar

Drill four holes so that you can ty-rap the new head set in there.$0.20

Screw on the visor from that old flight helmet.zero dollars

Go fly with a real helmet. priceless
 

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Not wanting to rain on anybody's parade here, but I suspect there could be some nasty consequences to playing with the helmet exterior and the lining. The usual rule with that sort of helmet is: One crash, and you buy another one...and I think the modifications you have in mind would probably marginalise the crash protection provided... I really don't like the thought of cutting away the polystyrene liner directly above my skull and replacing it with the headset band instead.

On the other hand - way better than nothing...


John
 
I think it's great! Besides, a helmet of any size, quality, cost, etc., is not going save you from blade strikes, prop strikes, bunt overs, PIO's, mid-air's, etc. There are people out there right now that fly without a helmet for this exact reason. Your number one concern for helmet selection isn't "will it save my life in a crash?" The number one concern is will it protect you from flying debris and other airborn objects such as birds, bug, rocks, weeds, etc.?

This setup looks really good. And if Robert hadn't said anything about the helmet, I would have thought that it was a deck hand helmet from the US Navy.
 
donshoebridge said:
.......Besides, a helmet of any size, quality, cost, etc., is not going save you from blade strikes, prop strikes, bunt overs, PIO's, mid-air's, etc. There are people out there right now that fly without a helmet for this exact reason. Your number one concern for helmet selection isn't "will it save my life in a crash?"...................
Don, if Ken Brock were still with us he could relate his experience of taking a rotor blade strike to his helmet. If he hadn't had the helmet he wouldn't have survived. The way it was he spent time in the hospital.

This happened at El Mirage many years ago when Russ Jansen had a wire strike and went down. Ken quickly landed and in his haste to assist Russ, he quickly jumped out of his gyro and was struck by the rotor blade in the process. Russ didn't survive and Ken almost got his in the process. I don't think modifying a helmet from its original design is advisable under any circumstances if the intent of wearing the helmet is for head protection.
 
I think Robert is ingenious in his helmet design. And wearing something is better than nothing.

One of my gyro flying buddies refuses to wear any helmet. I have discussed it with him, which is all I can do. His thoughts are that if he crashes, the helmet probably won't save him, and he's most likely right. It's a personal choice that may bite him some day, but it is his choice, unfortunately.

Robert, if there's any way possible to afford it, get a proper helmet. But if you can't, at least keep wearing what you have.

Having said that, though, I don't even get in my gyro without the helmet on. Even when I'm working on it with the engine running, my helmet is on. It's inconvenient, but knowing it saved Ken Brock after a whack made me a believer. And I have real healthy respect for those 3 dice-a-matic blades attached to the engine.
 
I personally don't think the modifications to the helmet comprimised the integrity of the helmet, after all Comtronics helmet is pretty much the same thing, at over $250 clams. Just my opinion. Good job Robert.
 
''invisible helmet wearing guy #2"

''invisible helmet wearing guy #2"

Yea,Yea, I know...I'll NEVER argue the fact that I'm more safe wearing a helmet. I just could'nt find one that I liked or that fit my headset. Not to mention the most important feature -STYLE !! I always wanted one of those cool military heli-pilot ones, but I'll be damned if I'd spend $750.00 bucks for a helmet that just plainly hurt to wear! That looks like a great idea ya got goin' there Robert. The only problem is that the last time I tried to drill a hole in a helmet, I did'nt think to take it off first... tHInGs hAVE'nt sEEMed tHE SAmE SinCE!!!
 
I agree with Scott. Robert didn't change the top of the shell where the headset band is, he just took out some of the padding. Any helmet will not ensure survivability in a crash where other fatal injuries are incurred. If someone tips over a gyro on a rough landing or even a taxiing mishap like Scott's any helmet shell can save a skull from a rap on the asphalt. Gary Bussie (sp?) is an excellent example. After rapping his head on the asphalt in a minor motorcycle accident he now is a big helmet proponent. The noggin can only take so much. Like Scott said, Comtronics sells a helmet shell that's the same as what Robert's helmet is.
 
That padding isn't just for comfort - if the original helmet was designed at all properly and not just for cosmetics, it's a crumple zone. Hence the usual instructions in this sort of thing about replacing the helmet if you sustain a serious crash. And hence my concern about inserting a hard, non-crumpling element into that space.

cheers,
John
 
Dale Young said:
Yea,Yea, I know...I'll NEVER argue the fact that I'm more safe wearing a helmet. I just could'nt find one that I liked or that fit my headset. Not to mention the most important feature -STYLE !! I always wanted one of those cool military heli-pilot ones, but I'll be damned if I'd spend $750.00 bucks for a helmet that just plainly hurt to wear! That looks like a great idea ya got goin' there Robert. The only problem is that the last time I tried to drill a hole in a helmet, I did'nt think to take it off first... tHInGs hAVE'nt sEEMed tHE SAmE SinCE!!!

Dale,

I have an SPH-4A military helmet and it didn't cost me $750. I found mine at a gun show for $75. It still has the old style Vietnam era head band, but for around $20 or so you can replace that with the newer style Gentex liner which are real nice!
 
banaari said:
That padding isn't just for comfort - if the original helmet was designed at all properly and not just for cosmetics, it's a crumple zone. Hence the usual instructions in this sort of thing about replacing the helmet if you sustain a serious crash. And hence my concern about inserting a hard, non-crumpling element into that space.

cheers,
John
Hi John.
I must concur. My recording studio headsets are designed for long-duration comfort, as were my cycling & motorcycle helmets. My fear would be the difference of impact pressures over very short durations with respect to the skull. There was a series of interesting experiments done at several universities where the challenge was to make a raw egg survive unbroken from a drop of several stories. If my memory is correct, those entries that delivered consistent, uniform pressure at all circumferential points had the highest survivability. I can only surmise that replacing a narrow band of protective material with another of dissimilar properties will impose uneven stresses onto the skull at moments during impact. Depending on severity, I can envision these dissimilar forces, if strong & fast enough, imposing a nearly shearing force.

In Robert's defense though, comfort level plays a significant part in safety. I hated wearing that big bulky orange life jacket when my grandfather took me boating as a kid. Nor did I like wearing those Neutrino particle isolator pads when we teleported aboard this spa... oh wait.. nevermind. :D

May I make a suggestion though? In-Ear audio monitors have been used for years in the entertainment/stage performance industry (insert Ashlee Simpson joke here.) But they seal to the inside surfaces of the middle ear and do not protrude past the antihelix. Seems an unaltered helmet could easily accommodate such a system. Wiring and attenuation should be unchanged.

Just a thought.

Thanks,
Brian Jackson
 
Last edited:
Brian Jackson said:
........May I make a suggestion though? In-Ear audio monitors have been used for years in the entertainment/stage performance industry ........
If I don't die first I'm gonna solve all you guys helmet and in air hearing problems! I have an incentive since I'm just about as deaf as a person can be and still communicate albeit with difficulty (you have to face me and yell realllly loud!) without a hearing aide. Not being able to hear means I can't train in anything but a SxS and then it requires an instructor that can deal with the situation.

I posted this sometime ago but I'll do so again. There is a company called Comtek https://www.comtek.com/IFBCueing/ifbcueing.html that provides the type of devices that Brian refers too. However they are wireless!

The earpiece, which looks like a hearing aide, is fed by induction from a neck loop that plugs into a wireless receiver. I've only done preliminary investigation but the Telcon I had some time back with one of their reps didn't turn up any insurmountable problems. Interference from the engine may be one that is.

I envision the neck loop being permanently placed in the helmet with a wire long enough to plug into radio, intercom or whatever. If the receiver could be made to incorporate ANR then with a helmet taking care of most of the wind noise and the ear piece sealing off the rest, the communication should be about as good as you can get. If this could be made to work then perfectly good helmets wouldn't have to be butchered. With that last sentence I managed to keep from hijacking the thread!
 
I read an interesting article in the local paper about motorcyclists and helmets recently.

Florida had a compulsory helmet law but after much protesting, the motorcycle organizations managed to get it repealed a few years ago. The number of fatalities immediately tripled.

The legislators knew that would happen so in their wisdom, added a provision to the statute repealing mandatory helmets that helmetless riders must carry a $10,000 insurance policy to cover the undertaker’s bill and pay for a gravesite.

Riders who wear helmets aren’t required to carry the $10,000 policy.
 
Soon after the law changed one of the local motorcycle enthusiasts who was one of the strongest and loudest supporters of riding without helmets had a motorcycle accident and died. He wasn't wearing a helmet. He may have had a $10,000 accident insurance policy but he had no life insurance and his wife ended up losing their multimillion dollar house, yacht, etc. It was a very sad situation.
 
The motorcycle helmet issue goes deeper that just wearing helmets. I ride alot, have many bikes, But I always wear a helmet, I went through the beanie helmet phase, But protection is a good thing, Basicaly it is a freedom of choice thing. I understand the issue, BUT the EU european union has mandated all kinds of stupid rules for motorcycles. many politicians want you to wear a seatbelt on a bike! Honda even developed an airbag that was a miserable failure. By the time they make you put belts, bags, leg protectors, roll bar, you might as well call it a car. Then what's next, some politician that take away your right to use a jet ski, private aircraft, or anything else some lawmaker deems dangerous will be outlawed.
Ok I am done with my rant.
Besides a helmet will only protect you so much.
 
I'd never fly the ferel without me helmet/headset.
Without it my head would freeze in winter and shrivel like a prune in summer.

I'v never worn a helmet on the scooter ,unless I was racing.
Any protection device tends to make you feel more indistructable,so you go harder,and die quicker.
 
See, it's about practical application!

I have ALWAYS worn helmet on dirt bikes, 'cuz you know you are going to crash, Hey Bubba watch this!
 
That article I read in the paper alleged emergency room doctors refer to motorcycle riders as organ donors. It farther went on to state that without helmets, the victims die so quickly that by the time the cadaver reaches the hospital, the organs are useless.
 
Most motorcycle riders have some sort of insurance. Most crackheads and gunshot machine gun rodeo types don't. What are our emergency rooms full of?

Besides, Dale Earnhart was wearing a helmet, and broke his neck.
Head/Neck You're just as dead with an inpact that severe anyhow.
Most fatal auto accidents, the victims die from massive head trauma, but try wearing a helmet in your car, and you will get a ticket for obstructing your vision.
 
A good many years ago, my girlfriend’s boy fell out of a tree and broke his arm.

The waiting room of the orthopedic surgeon was filled with young men with legs and arms in casts, not unexpected in such a place. What seemed unusual is that most were in the same age range; 20 to 30.

As it turned out, this particular surgeon specialized in patching up motorcycle riders.

I picked up a medical journal that had a compilation of the various traumas suffered by motorcycle riders.

Horrifyingly, the most frequent injury by a wide margin was sheared genitals. That was at a time when Harleys had protruding gas caps, ignition switches, etc. Modern bikes do a good job of eliminating the lumps or placing streamlined fairings over those that can’t be eliminated.

Perhaps the chauvinistic swagger of motorcyclists; tattoos, chrome plated motorcycle chain belts and the like was to compensate for the loss of manhood. I have noticed that many of the older bikers beef up like steers.

The fatality rate for motorcycles per mile traveled is 27 times that for automobiles, according to the newspaper article mentioned previously.
 
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