Help needed restoring original B6 flight helmet

[warguy]

I am packing my collection in preparation for a move and when I took my B6 helmet off the shelf, (a high shelf) I found that the original foam rubber ear cuffs had deteriorated, with one of them melted away. As a result, the original wired head set doesn’t fit into the cuff anymore. I am really disappointed. The helmet was not in sunlight, and not near a heat source. I do live in AZ, and it can be arid and dry, but my house isnt overly warm. I guess the ear cuffs just reached end of life. I hadn't touched the helmet for several years, and you couldn’t really see the damage when it was on display.

I would like to restore this piece. I have reached out to Steve Sellers who says he can do the work, but we need to find either an original set of the foam rubber ear cuffs or a good repro. Anyone have any ideas?

I have an email into Garcia Aviation, but havent heard back. They dont have anything on their site currently, but I am hoping they might have a suggestion. Looking for other ideas. Thanks in advance. The rest of the helmet is in excellent condition by the way. It is named to a man who flew on B-17’s and was killed in a training accident during the war. I have his KIA accolade as well. Worthy of a good restoration I think. Thanks! Kevin

 

[leper-colony]

Those almost look like early latex headset ear cups.

Not sure if these could be fitted:

WWII USAAF Brown Headphone Headset Ear Pad Cushions HS-23 HS-33 ANB-H-1 | eBay

WWII Headset Ear Cushions (Cushions only). Most WWII headsets utilized the iconic foam rubber cushions. Although originally designed for the HS-23 headset (black PL-54 plug) they can also stretch slightly and fit on the HS-33 headset (red PL-354 plug, pictured).

www.ebay.com

 

[warguy]

You might be onto to something. Thanks, I will look into these. Any other ideas out there?

 

[warguy]

The more I look at these fom rubber cushions on ebay, the more I think they will work. Anyone else think the same? The trick of course will be either catching the narrow edge with stitching or possibly the round leather piece on the helmet will clamp the foam enough to keep it in place. Asking Steve Sellers that question now. Leper colony I sure appreciate you pointing them out to me!

 

[Tattoo A2]

I bought a few pairs of them recently and think they will work fine on your restoration, I bought mine from the rigger depot and I believe its the same guy selling them on ebay. To me they are real close to originals.

 

[warguy]

Thank you tattoo. Yes they are Rigger Depot, I sent a message to Josh there and he confirmed they will fit the ANB H-1 receivers on my helmet. I am super excited to find these, I was beginning to think no such animal was available. Cant than you and leper-colony enough. I am sure glad I posted this here. When Steve gets done with the helmet, I will post a shot of the completed project.

 

[Tattoo A2]

Rigger Depot just came out with them recently so it all worked out. I have been trying to find these for years, so i was glad someone redid them myself. Good luck with your project.

 

[ausreenactor]

Well done! After pics when ready..

 

[warguy]

I have the replacement ear cuffs in hand and I think they will work. Sadly Steve Sellers is unable to do the work due to some personal challenges right now. Close inspection reveals there are about seven or eight large hand stitches that would need to be removed to take out the damaged ear cups and then resewn to install the new ear cups. I dont believe any machine sewing will be required and while I am no seamstress, it doesn’t look too terribly hard to me. I know sheepskin can be fragile and not many like to work with it, but it appears the hand stitching only goes through the leather rings surrounding the cups.

Does anyone know someone that might be capable of taking this on? I would prefer someone familiar with working on vintage jackets, etc. Thanks!

 

[Tattoo A2]

The problem Im seeing from the photos are you have the outer leather rings and on top of that ...the snaps..I see longer thread spacers, so from the photos its hard to tell. Put up a few inside photos of the helmet. If its just a few long hand sewn stitches on the rubber, it shouldnt be bad for a fix...I do mostltly hand work on leather but it is hard to tell from the photos.

 

[warguy]

This might show it a bit better. You can see the long hand stitches on both the inside and outside where it goes though. In hand, I am pretty sure that is all that catches the foam rubber and that the machine sewing was just for the rings, but I guess wouldnt know with absolute certainty until the hand stitches were remove too see if that will allow the old ear cups to come out. The round “plates” inside the helmet are also made from foam ubber and they are hardened. I think they could be salvaged if careful and if not, a replacement of round goatskin or dark brown leather mIght be adequate. I don't believe there is a repro made in foam rubber to replace these inside “plates”. I would think that if the foam earcups were machine sewn when the leather rings were installed, there would have been no need for the hand stitching.Thanks for responding and let me know if you need additional photos.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Tattoo A2]

As far as I can tell it looks like the rubber cup is only being held in by those 6 big stiches on it. I think the round leather reinforcement circles are there to strengthen the sheepskin helmet from tearing and are not attached to the cups. As you see in my photos of my replacement cups its the smaller end that is on the outside of the helmet and the larger part is in the inside. The hole in the helmet only allows the smaller end to fit thru. You probably could remove a few of the big stiches and see if the rotted cup moves out at all, or it may be dry rotted right to the shearling. Thats the hard part with 80 year old shearling. Go Slow and take your time, if its only the 6 big stiches it shouldnt be too bad, and you can use the same holes in the round leather reinforcements and just have to poke thru the rubber. Hope this helps.

 

[Tattoo A2]

Was a little bored on my day off and tried this experiment, took the new cups, made cardboard cut outs before I cut the outer rings from leather and then dyed them a shade darker, the leather rings slide right over the receiver ,or smaller end of the cups. I think your original had the leather rings sewed on the helmet, cut the shearling out of the middle rings and sewed them to the helmet to reinforce it.Then the cups were pushed thru the inside to the outside with the wider part for your ears and then hand sewn those big stitches to hold them on the flight helmet, I know I sound like a madman but heres some photos again

 

[warguy]

Not mad at all. Thanks very much for laying this all out like that. It never dawned on me the leather ring was used to strengthen the sheepskin, thats is exactly its purpose. I also never thought to come in with the foam earcups from the inside, that should work great. I am going to take it on myself and will keep you posted. I agree, I think just the hand stitching holds the earcups in and I just dont think this is going to be all that hard, even if I am not a seamstress! Thanks again!

 

[Tattoo A2]

I doubt too many of the riggers coming up with these ideas during the war were expert seamstress people either, glad I could help you out a little, Thats what this forum is about, Please keep me updated, Rob

 

[warguy]

U sure will Rob and thanks again!

 

[warguy]

Update****

I have leper-colony and Tattoo A2 to thank especially for holding my hand thriugh this one. The replacement ear cups from ebay (made by Rigger Depot) were perfect. With confidence inspired from tattoo A2, i did the work myself and I am sure glad I did. I carefully removed the original 6 or so loose hand stitches from each side and the old damaged ear cups fell away. I was surprised to find that the flat pieces sewn to the ears from the inside were actually not seperate pieces but the original flattened ear cup that had partially melted and hardened. I took Tattoos advice and pushed the new ear cup through from the inside and then replaced the original receivers on the outside (a butterknfe was very helpful getting them in as they are a snug fit. When that was done, all was very secure and it was apparent I didnt need to sew the new ones in. In fact, I am not sure why they were sewn in the first place as they arent going anywhere and if damaged again in the future, the replacement is super easy. Anyway, the helmet is ready for display again and I dont have a problem at all with bringing this back to its original state for proper display. I am very excited. Thanks again to those who contributed. Here are some pics of how it turned out.

 

[Tattoo A2]

That came out great, glad I could be helpful, I think your right, dont even bother with sewing them in. Another piece of history with a new chapter.

 

[Dumpster D]

Wow! I'm impressed how nicely your project turned out! This is inspiring! I have the Navy Ear cups from WPG on my 5* B-6 because that's all I could get and it was before 5* offered their helmet with the ear cups.

I prefer the look of the rigger depot ones just a little more.

 

[YoungMedic]

Can't believe I missed this thread until now. Great job guys!