Salty B6 flight helmet

[Politefaun]

Hello all, recently I've shifted my focus to USAAF B-17 crew equipment in order to make a display for my great uncle who was the radio operator in a B-17g during January of 1944. Before I go any further I want to give a tremendous thank you to AZPhil as without him I wouldn't even know where to start looking for information, he's answered question after question from me, and has helped me get in contact with the knowledgeable people over at the USMF. Now as the title says this is a salty B6 with snaps installed for use with the A-10A & A-10R or A-14 oxygen masks. There are also two large leather patches that are covering where ear cups might've been or are covering holes made to allow the use of a headset. Unfortunately the pictures weren't the clearest and I couldn't tell that it wasn't in great shape like I thought it was. It's not all bad though as it has a nice big USAAF decal on the back of it and with the modifications it means it was probably used by someone. Furthermore we all have had purchases that didn't pan out before its just the nature of collecting, hopefully a good one comes around soon! Thanks for reading.

[MAP]

I think it looks great. Much more convincing in a display than a pristine example.

Kudos to Phil as well

[Anderson]

Nice one.

[Rick W]

Interesting piece mate,
Do you have a close up of that tag inside ?
Cheers Rick

[reneblacky]

Very nice and nicer than mine, here's my crap one. I'd also like to see your tag, I love my tags

[AZPhil]

You are quite welcome Stephen,
It was my pleasure to help and also investigate you Uncle's flight gear. If you have more question feel free to keep in touch. I learned something about the receivers on these as the search continued. The Folks on USMF did really step up to the plate on that one and hit it out of the park.
Really sorry to hear about the ear cups and the condition. I think it does look pretty good from you pic's.

Was there anything of interest on the liner that came with it?

Semper Fi
Phil

[Politefaun]

Interesting piece mate,
Do you have a close up of that tag inside ?
Cheers Rick

Very nice and nicer than mine, here's my crap one. I'd also like to see your tag, I love my tags

Here's the tag, the property part is obscured but it says the same thing that the other B6 tags say.

[Politefaun]

The liner didnt have any tags on it so its still a bit of a mystery, and after handling it the liner doesn't feel 70+ years old either. Honestly after playing around with it more the only issue that I have is that the leather is really stiff which gives it a really weird shape when opened. I think that can be solved with a smaller display head and some time for it to readjust. It looks really nice with the flak helmet since it hides a lot of the bad areas and with an O2 mask it will look even better. The people over at USMF are great I wish I could just take part in the conversation there. Thank you again for all the help I really appreciate it!

[AZPhil]

I'm glad to hear it displays well. Yeah the M3 flak helmet is something I have been looking for , But I want one that has the flocking on it. They are little harder to find and also they run a lot more$$$.
I had asked Phil Chaperon(Left waist Gunner) what type he wore. He said he didn't wear a flak helmet. But they used there Helmets(M1without liner)to piss in when flying and would throw it out the window when it froze!!!! I laughed , But He said with a serious voice "That Is What We Did" . You can't beat hearing How things were done from the vet that lived it!!!

Just an FYI. The liner is what is called a skull cap. All the pilots I knew who flew Jet fighters wore one under their helmets. It absorbs the sweat and keeps the actual helmets liner free of sweat and oils from there sweaty heads.

Semper Fi
Phil

[AZPhil]

I just zoomed in on the tag and It says Extra large on it.
But you say its small and doesn't fit your head?
On the inside it looks like the ear cup section has additional shearing added to the ear holes. Does that part come out to fit receivers?

Semper Fi
Phil