Japanese flight helmet?

[feldgrau33]

Hello gents,

I just saw this flight helmet (belong to the Indonesian air force museum) in the exhibition in my hometown.

Is this original japanese ww2 flight helmet? If so, what type this helmet is and what branch of force used it? Is it the army or navy?

Thank you.

[Rod]

Yes, it's a Japanese Army flight cap. It's a shame the goggles hide the front, there are likely visible stitch marks where the army star would be. Nice repurposed piece.

Rod

[feldgrau33]

I see, thank you for the reply and sorry for the late reply though.
Here's the star stitch mark.

[Rod]

You're welcome. Yup, that's an army star. The navy had black leather flight caps and the army brown ones. The goggles are Japanese navy issue however.

Rod

[feldgrau33]

Interesting, thank you.

[Nick Komiya]

That was the third generation flight helmet for the IJA, and production year of that example can be narrowed down to the period between August 1937 and August 1941. The upcoming story on aviation uniforms will tell you why. It should be up within 2 days.

[Jareth]

Navy flight caps are mostly brown leather rather than black

[Nick Komiya]

The Evolution of IJA Flight Uniforms (1910-1945) now up and pinned to top of page

[feldgrau33]

Navy flight caps are mostly brown leather rather than black

Thank you!

That was the third generation flight helmet for the IJA, and production year of that example can be narrowed down to the period between August 1937 and August 1941. The upcoming story on aviation uniforms will tell you why. It should be up within 2 days.

The Evolution of IJA Flight Uniforms (1910-1945) now up and pinned to top of page

Thank you! Great read!