Helmets

[willedoo]

Not a helmet, but related. Yesterday I picked up this anti gravity suit (G suit, speed jeans). It's a PPK-1 Series 2 suit, circa 1959 and looks to be in NOS unissued condition. Second photo in black and white is the same model suit in use. The nice thing about that time period is that it's within that five or six years when development of pilot altitude and anti gravity gear was right at the coal face. Particularly from the mid 50's, the pace of new development was cracking on and models of equipment were superseded very quickly. By the early 60's, most of the technology was done and dusted with no reason to re-invent the wheel.

 

As an example, this 1959 suit is basically the same as they wear today. A bit like how the internal workings of a mechanical watch are not much different than forty years ago. Some gear keeps improving, other gear reaches a peak where if it's not broken, don't fix it. Ditto with the altitude compensating partial pressure suits. Development started around 1956 and within five years there was no need to go any further. The current partial pressure suit the Russian Air Force and Navy use for the highest flights is the same one that came out in 1961.

 

With G suits, where the improvements will come is in the aircraft systems controlling them. The Russians are developing a new automatic control unit for the G suits to be used on the Su-57 stealth fighter. With current technology, by the time the automatic system detects the G's and delivers pressure, it's always lagging that little bit behind. In other words, it's reactive. The new system will be predictive. The computers and sensors read all the relevant parameters like AOA, altitude, airspeed, aircraft weight, pilot weight and stick input to predict the number of G's you are about to pull. It then delivers pressure to the suit instantly instead of a second or two later. I think from memory it will be a nine G suit but the extra benefit is there right through the G range.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by willedoo

[pmccarthy]

Do you have a museum or will you be opening one?

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, pmccarthy said:

Do you have a museum or will you be opening one?

No, I don't. When I re-locate and retire I have plans to finally set up the gear on display as a private collection. A bit like a private museum but not open to the public, just invitation or request only. The last five years have been on hold and it gets frustrating having a collection packed away in boxes and not on display.

 

When it comes to flight gear collectors, some stick to one thing and many others have a main country of interest (usually their own country) and dabble in gear of other countries as a secondary thing. Quite a lot of Americans stick to U.S. only gear. I still have a small amount of U.S. gear from years ago when I first got the collecting bug, but have little interest in it now and will move most of it on. For quite a few years now I've stuck almost exclusively to my main passion, Soviet and Russian Federation gear. I have a small amount of Eastern Block gear but these days my only non Soviet interest is some of the East German gear.

 

The aircrew life support equipment is the core interest but I also collect things in that orbit, like air crew log books and documents, bits and pieces of aircraft and the like. Luckily I got most of the common low hanging fruit stuff when it was cheaper and more plentiful. Now I can concentrate on the rarer stuff. It just takes more money and patience to track down than the more common things. At least I'll never get bored in retirement. Just restoring a couple of ejection seats will keep me busy for a while.

[spacesailor]

Rarer stuff !.there,s a 1d black stamp, going to auction, & they expect $ mutiple millions.

I HAD what l consider twice as rare !.

A 2d black , postage due stamp.

BUT

Because its Not " postage paid "they ( stamp dealers ) call it a cover, not stamp !. 

But  if a millionaire has a 1d black, what would they pay for the 2d black ?. ( 2d red was the next rare stamp )

Long gone to a ' school show & tell '.it was never returned.

And surly missed.

spacesailor

[willedoo]

Saw this on a collector's facebook group. A lot of truth in it.

 

[Marty_d]

The two are not mutually exclusive.  He could be looking at "fireman's helmets"...

[old man emu]

I just checked the prices for some limited edition and signed by the author books that I got back in the late 80's and they are fetching around $200 each. Even my early Casio digital watch is worth a lot more. And my bike goes up a few hundred dollars each year.

 

They were collected in my youth. Now I just seem to collect other people's discards that I could make something from, to the point where my grandson does an amusing parody of me, stooped walk and all. Little sh|t!

[willedoo]

It's interesting how things are valued. With books, condition & rarity would be the biggest factor I think. Limited edition would be a big part of the rarity. I would guess coins and stamps would be similar.

 

With flight gear, rarity is number one factor in value. That rarity could be due to rarity of the item alone, connection to a notable person, or a combination of both. With non rare gear, mint condition doesn't always mean higher value, as a lot of collectors prefer used and flown items that have operational history. I would think that flight gear linked to a notable person would equate in the book world to signed copies.

 

I only have two items autographed to me; the only signed things I own. One is one of Matt Taylor's harmonicas, the other is a Michael Luenig cartoon print. It was the one with the chap who had hairs growing everywhere. I never met Mr. Luenig personally, but a friend of mine was assigned as his PA when he did a guest gig at the local uni. She knew I was a fan, so asked Michael Luenig to autograph a print for me. I hadn't asked for it, but still felt like a bit of a groupie when she gave it to me.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by willedoo

[facthunter]

So you should, but anyhow you got it. I bit of good GUILT goes a long way. Nev