Midweek Sortie 09: From Leather Caps to Smart Shells, The Flight Helmet’s Journey
From leather caps that protected against cold, to hard shells built for jets and ejections, flight helmet has evolved into a networked cockpit—protecting heads while feeding eyes with crucial info.
Until the late 1940s, fighter pilots had little more than cloth or leather helmets and goggles to protect their heads from oil spray or bumps in the cockpit. With the arrival of high-performance jet aircraft and ejection seats, the U.S. military began to take head protection seriously.
—Roger Mola, Air and Space Magazine
The pilot snaps the chinstrap, lowers the visor, and suddenly the cockpit’s world comes alive; flight data, target symbology, and night vision dance before his eyes as he scans the runway. In the realm of today’s fighters, the helmet is more than just a shell.
