Helmet Discussion

[aviator79]

Moving this discussion outside Nikk's thread.

So, those who are considering helmets, are you thinking just for Phase I, or every time you fly? I'm kind of thinking it would be good to wear one during Phase I, but I don't think I'd wear it after that. A good one with comms is a pricey investment for 40 hours of use. Than again, Nikk was out of Phase I, and we really don't know what the cirucmstances were.

[skyguy04]

I haven't given it much thought until now, but I have noticed that some of the competition guys wear them. I wouldn't worry about it if i'm just going out for a "normal" flight. However, if I'm planning to go off airport or practice short field landings it would be nice. I'd prefer one that worked with my existing headset ( Zulu 3). Not sure if anything like that exists...

[tracstarr]

Even before the recent accident, it was something in the back of my head. I wear helmets for everything else. I have 5-6 different helmets for different activities.

It was about 3 weeks ago that I started thinking about it. There was a crash here where the pilot of an ultralight sustained major head injuries from his head hitting the ground from the side as the plane slide across the road. Read here.

There was a comment in the other threads about most of them being useless to prevent forward hitting facial trauma. I'd agree I guess in that specific situation. Without a face guard you could still hit the dash. I would think though you'd have to be flying with pretty loose shoulder straps?

I've not decided yet myself - but I'm heavily leaning towards it.

[KitplaneEnthusiast]

Nikks accident also got me thinking about helmets too and I think I am going to buy one. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it LOL.

When I was building my RV-7 I planned on wearing a helmet because it's happened many times where a bird came through the canopy at 200mph.

Even at our 120+ speeds a bird strike could be dangerous. And in the event of an off airport landing I sure would appreciate a helmet.

[Slyfox]

HA, try to get your wife to put a helmet on, I can hear her now, are you kidding, it will mess my hair up. haha.

oh and hitting the panel, get real, if you have shoulder straps on, I always check them to make sure they will work, that's not going to happen. just some thoughts.

[HighWing]

When I was flying my first Model IV, I became concerned because the shoulder harness attachments were not centered behind my head - sort of spreading in an aft Y shape to their respective attachment points. I was always concerned I could slither out between the straps in an impact. I made a couple of velcro straps to hold them together across my chest. When we were in our emergency landing (crash), I found that the force on the shoulder straps tore the cross straps apart - 1 inch nylon. I repositioned the attach points to behind my head on the new IV. It required some welding.

[mooreaa]

I'm a total newbie and will be starting my private soon (finishing ground school) so this thread caught my attention.

In the event of a crash or hard landing, how well doe the restraints / seat belts hold you back? Looking at the crash photos (pretty gruesome) what caught my eye was how the panel was pushed in and the glass on the garmin was shattered looking like an impact there. I would think that to some degree the restrains should help avoid any major impact like that?

Also, would the added weight of the helmet possibly contribute to neck related injuries?

[896tr]

They make helmets for the ultra light pilots that allow them to wear regular headsets. I had two of them but sold them to the guy that bought my weight shift plane, and no I don't remember the brand. I always wear a full face helmet when I ride my motorcycle. The one crash I had was a bad one, besides the extreme road tattoos I got the left side of the helmet was completely ground off from just below my ear to my chin. I never have and never will ride without one. I'm still on the fence about flying with one.

[Slyfox]

I for one will not fly with one. I run my boat with one, mainly because at 75mph it hurts when rain hits and the noise is overbearing for my ears. I've been in a nasty motorcycle accident, I too always wear a helmet. didn't save my hip, took that right out. artificial hip now. I've seen people that have cut out their shoulder straps on the kitfox, they claimed that the fox lands so slow you don't need them. well I'm not going to get into it but those straps saved me. I always make sure they give me a few inches of forward movement, I have them loose when the turbulence is nill and tighten them up when it's there. along with the lap one, oh and reduce the air speed as well. if too much I just land and save my fuel for a better day.

[PapuaPilot]

It crossed my mind to use a helmet when I was doing the Phase 1 testing on my plane. I actually have one of those expensive fitted military aviation helmets with ANR in it. I used it for 20 years of flying with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Indonesia.

I chose not to use my helmet. Why? I feel the 4 point Hooker harness that came with my kit would do a great job of keeping me in the seat and prevent my head from going forward into the instrument panel/dash in the event of an accident. In most airborne scenarios we will have time to tighten the seat belts (if needed), pick a suitable landing site and possibly turn it into the wind. With the low landing speed of the KF the outcome should be pretty good for the souls onboard. That is also the reason I don't feel the need for BRS. Yes, I understand there is a chance of something happening where a helmet or BRS would help, but the risk/benefit doesn't seem worth it.

FYI, since I came back to the USA in 2011 MAF has made it optional to use helmets, and 100% of our new pilots are choosing to use headsets.