Just watched AVWEB / Paul Bertorelli‘s video on helmets here
and it’s food for thought.
This guy obviously had very good shoulder harnesses and seems to be unscathed by the flip. It shows that even a low energy state has some violent forces to it (see headset flying off in a split second, without a shoulder belt his head would have hit just as well).
Anyone of you flying with a helmet? Can the structural integrity of shoulder harness anchors be tested (eg how much NM force they can withstand)? I sometimes have my doubts if seatbelts in older airframes would hold up.
Snoopy wrote:
Anyone of you flying with a helmet?
In fighter jets, yes 
I did wear them in open cockpit (formation or airshow), I am not sure how much they help: on arrival to crash scenes of woods & fiberglass, I don’t think the helmets is what saves the day, there is nothing to hit in open cockpits or plastic gliders at 30kts? maybe they are important when you are inside metal cage at 80kts without proper straps?
Well, the Snow landing flip video is pretty “old” (in modern terms), but Paul’s report asks and demonstrates the right pros and cons.
I bought a skydiver helmet and an in-hear ANR a couple of years ago for some trials.
The helmet was comfy to wear, quickly donned. What killed the idea of flying with a helmet? No, not the fear of looking slightly mmmh, say ridiculous to my peers… my steed looks and is sporty enough to wear a helmet in 
The problem was mainly two-fold: first the in-ear headset was bad, meaning the noise attenuation compared to wearing my normal Bose was terrible. Second, any change of spectacles or sunglasses was a chore, since the helmet was nicely tight as to require its removal for the task.
In Paul’s video, the top of the line helmet looks interesting enough, but the price tag is impressive as well…
I’m not gonna crash anyway, so why a helmet?
AC43.13-2B, Chapter 9 is a very good read about shoulder harness installations. It’s a lot of hard won wisdom, so worth valuing. I don’t know if I’ve ripped out a shoulder harness attachment point. I do know I broke my shoulder bone with a shoulder harness, and broken a hip ripping out the lap belt attachment point. Wear all the seatbelts available.
I’m getting old, if the flying I’m considering calls for a helmet, my interest recedes quickly. But yes, helmets are a very good idea for some flying. If you’re going to do something dumb, like land on a surface you don’t know, then yes, wear a helmet.
Our group had a fatal crash in 1999 with a 30+ year old wood-and- fabric Jodel DR1050. Low speed, spin type impact with nose and wingtip. I was told both lap-and-diagonal harnesses held. The two occupants didn’t hit anything. The died instantly from tearing of heart vessels etc.
This might be an option
That sounds awful Maoraigh. Did they say what caused the tearing of the heart vessels?
Just “G” will do that. Body organs are attached with connective tissue and that will stretch and break, and blood vessels break similarly. One can withstand a lot of forward G – example – but not downward G (e.g. the AF447 scenario, or an aircraft descending in a deep stall, or under a chute).
Helmets were required on all ULs here some 15 years ago. Probably from the time ULs were open garden chair things. The requirement stopped about 15 years ago, and is now only required on open aircraft like trikes for instance or a typical (open) gyro. All professional helicopter pilots were helmets AFAIK. In an open aircraft you would want a helmet for comfort/practical reasons also.
Proper seat belts is a much better investment IMO, as Bertorelly suggests. It should be 4 point, preferably 5 point. I often fly an old Army Cub. The army pilots used proper flight helmets, why shouldn’t we? It’s something I think about from time to time. It’s the same with the Safir.
I don’t use sun glasses. I use caps instead. How will this work with a helmet? I would have make some a shade of some kind
