The Helmet

The helmet was adjustable only in terms of the face seal - a latex rubber liner (later changed to foam rubber) surrounding the front of your face. The face seal was designed to trap and contain the 100 percent oxygen in front of the crew member's face for breathing. An external adjustment knob on the side of the helmet allowed the crew member to tighten or loosen the face seal to suit his comfort.

The helmet mated to the pressure suit's metal neck ring and was locked into place by a lift- and- pull locking device. Located at the bottom of the helmet was a small hole that allowed us to drink fluids and eat "tube food" in the pressure suit. A microphone was located inside the helmet, positioned directly in front of your lips. An adjustable dial on the outside of the helmet allowed you to move the mike closer or further away from your lips.

The clear helmet face plate was the final locking mechanism that made your pressure suit a sealed unit. The glass face plate was connected to a metal ring on the bottom called the "Bailer Bar". By lifting up on the Bailer Bar, the entire face plate rotated up on top of the helmet for storage. Rotating the Bailer Bar down, and locking it to the bottom of the helmet, sealed the face plate. When the Bailer Bar was locked, a flow of 100 percent oxygen was initiated inside the helmet. A dark tinted sun visor also rotated up and down to block out the brilliant sunlight.

Early face plates were made of very expensive Pittsburgh Plate Glass, which later changed to a high quality plastic material. Imbedded in the face plate was a grid work of extremely thin electrical wire, providing us with face heat. The wires were heated to prevent condensation from forming on the inside of the face plate as we breathed. Once connected to the aircraft systems, a rheostat in the cockpit allowed crews to individually select whatever face heat temperature they required. With the rubber face seal trapping the face heat and 100 percent oxygen around your face, it was easy to dry your eyes out after a four hour mission. Often you were desperate for tears to form just to moisten your dry eyes.

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