What to do with old leather flying helmet?

[ManDownUnder]

Out of interest - where is the plane now? Would it be appropriate for them items to stay with it? I can understand they're personal effect of value to you though - just throwing it out there for consideration.

[Big Dave]

Go for a ride. And wear white socks folded over your boots.

[klingon]

Out of interest - where is the plane now? Would it be appropriate for them items to stay with it? I can understand they're personal effect of value to you though - just throwing it out there for consideration.

Apparently it was crashed into a river in 1957 and written off.

From http://www.adf-serials.com/2a17.shtml :

Entered Australian Civil Register as VH-ATK on 05 September 1956 with F. Edwards, Richmond, Victoria.
To Schutt Aircraft Sales and Service, Essendon on 25 October 1946.
To Hire or Fly Yourself Air Services, Melbourne on 10 March 1948.
To W. McMullen, Burnley, Victoria on 24 October 1949.
To Schutt Aircraft Sales and Service, Essendon on 09 January 1950.
To R. Talent, Mildura, Victoria on 14 February 1950.
To C. Elder, Melbourne on 01 Juky 1950.
Removed from Australian register on 28 February 1951 as exported to New Zealand in August 1950. Imported by Aviation Enterprises Ltd. and arrived in Wellington on “Tulse Hill” on 02 October 1950. Assembled by Aircraft Engineering Co of NZ Ltd and entered the New Zealand Civil Aircraft Register as ZK-AUQ but because of the poor condition of the aircraft it was not brought up to NZ civil airworthiness standards until August 1951.
Sold to James Aviation on 21 October 1954.
To A. Blechynden, Hamilton in mid 1957. Crashed into the bed of the Little River, Westland immediately after takeoff on 12 October 1957 [pilot A Blechynden]. Cancelled from register on 11 January 1960.

The bit in bold is (I think) when my Dad owned it. The plane was always a bit of a wreck and he was constantly gluing bits of canvas over the holes in the wings before he could take off.

Part of the problem is that he would leave it parked overnight in farmers' paddocks and the stock would chew on bits of the plane and he would have to fix it again in the morning.

[martybabe]

Part of the problem is that he would leave it parked overnight in farmers' paddocks and the stock would chew on bits of the plane and he would have to fix it again in the morning.

But no matter what I find out about my Dad it will never change my memories of him as absolutely the best Dad ever,and one of the kindest, most intelligent gentlemen you could ever hope to meet.

.

Would you stop it! I'm not supposed to cry before tea time. My god I bet he was proud of you. He sounds like he was a bit of a lad though doesn't it, good for him.

[klingon]

Would you stop it! I'm not supposed to cry before tea time. My god I bet he was proud of you. He sounds like he was a bit of a lad though doesn't it, good for him.

LOL thanks Marty. I didn't mean to make you cry and I certainly didn't mean to cry myself! I feel very lucky to be his daughter and I try to be as much like him as I can.

Note to self: must buy a Tiger Moth at earliest opportunity.

[klingon]

Just found a pic of Dad with his buddies at the Kawerau Flying Club in the late '50s. He's third from the left.

Now I'm going to step away from this thread and go for a ride. Looking through photos of my darling Dad has made me miss him all over again!

[Swoop]

Just because an aircraft is written off, does not mean that it is no longer in existance.

Contact Graham Orphan at Classic Wings magazine. editor@cwd.co.nz He is the editor of Classic Wings magazine and has owned/restored Moths. "Letters to the editor" constantly elicits responses of forgotten aircraft and locations.

Most certainly, do not give it to a museum to "look after"...

[Laava]

Put your goggles and helmet on and listen to this!

[Delerium]

I just inherited my Dad's old leather flying helmet and goggles (he used to fly a Tiger Moth back in the day).

As far as I can tell, these items have been stored flat in an old suitcase since 1956 at the latest (possibly earlier).

The leather in the helmet is still surprisingly pliable.

The goggles seem to be in the worst condition:
The plastic lenses seem to be delaminating. From what I can see they were made in three layers and the middle layer seems to be getting a bit wrinkly but the two outer layers are reasonably intact. The hinges are rusty and the leather nose-cover bit is very stiff.

The strapping on the goggles is in poor condition. At first I thought it was elastic that had lost all its stretch, but now I think it was always a non-stretch cotton webbing kind of stuff that's just getting weaker with time.

Just to clarify: I don't want to restore these items. They are very old and very used, and that's just fine because that's what makes them special. Really it would just be nice if I could store them for another 50 years or so without them completely disintegrating! One day my little nephew might be interested in having them. (My nephew isn't 1 yet and Dad died before they could meet each other.)

Dad seems to have done constant running repairs - there is rough hand-stitching all over them where bits have come adrift and he's stitched them back on with whatever was available at the time.

Oh and there's an RNZAF label inside the helmet. Dad was never in the air force (he was a navy man during WWII) so it's quite possible he picked them up cheap from a surplus store or bought them second hand right from the start.

So what should I do with them now? Any ideas?

You could contact the RNZAF museum and see if they are interested

[buffstar]

There have been some really good ideas/suggestions here, I second the Manequin head idea personally - for display purposes anyway.

there is a really cool junk/antique/collectables shop in West Auck by the name of "just plane interesting" located parrs cross road Henderson end, the guy in there seems to know his stuff, and from memory they on occasion have glass manequin heads for sale - also some v. cool china cabinets if you were wanting a display case of sorts that fit with the period of the helmet goggles and camera.

How neat that you have something so relevant to your Dad in your possession, he was obviously a cool dad for you to know so many of his stories

[Vern]

Hi there is a product called Neatsfoot oil which is for leather. We used it when we got new boots and use to poor a bit on a rag and wipe it all over our boots to soften up the leather and make them more comfortable, You should beable to get it from a saddle shop or leather shop vern. PS they are very nice examples with heaps of memories for you.

[pete376403]

Have a look at this page - it is about preserving old leather flying gear
http://oldnautibits.co.uk/features/aerofeature4.shtml