General
use
To protect pilots from NBC threat, the Airforce decided to
look for suitable flying gear. After examining foreign
projects nothing could be found that could meet their
specifications. Because of that they decided to make their
own. Operations with this gear are restricted and special
preparations have to be taken. Before leaving the
protected environment of his crew bunker, the pilot puts
on his gear as pictured here. For the short trip from the
bunker to the aircraft, the pilot wears a large white
coverall over his gear. The gear is self-supporting for
air supply. On warm days it can get very hot in this suit
and it is wise to get in your plane as soon as possible.
The suit has, besides its own air supply, a radio
transmitter as well.
The helmet
The brain bucket used is a heavily modified HGU-26/P as
used in the late eighties. For NBC purposes the helmet had
to be stripped and build up again. Main difference is the
absence of the dual visor kit. Instead of this, a hood is
manufactured which also holds a clear visor. This hood is
fitted to the helmet by using Velcro strips. The hood also
covers the MBU-12/P mask. A dark visor is attached to two
fasteners that holds a normal HGU-55/P visor. Further more
the helmet shell has a tube on the back that blows
filtered air in to small pipes that are coming out of the
helmet liner just above the eyes. The liner is custom
molded to the pilot his head, the edge roll is made by
Scott and altered later. The air blown through this
creates a small pressure, which prevents outside air from
coming in. The helmet is finished with the usual items
like lightweight oxygen mask receivers, earphones and is
sprayed gray.
The suits
Besides the already mentioned white coverall, the pilot
wears two other suits. Under the green flying coverall, a
so-called under coverall is worn. This white coverall fits
tight around the body and also covers the head. Gloves and
socks from the same material are worn. The flying suit is
made from Nomex and has multiple layers of carbon. As with
the helmet, the suit is also custom made.
Filter,
blower and radio pack
The air supply package consists of a blower and a filter
unit. The filter pack, as worn on the right chest, is the
CRU-80/P similar to the one used on the MBU-13/P. It is
connected to the parachute harness with a CRU-60/P bracket
and filters the air coming from the aircraft. On the left
side a blower pack is installed that provides the
pressurized air for the helmet. Together with a battery
and gas mask type filter, the blower pack is connected
with a hose to an inverted CRU-60/P that attaches to the
harness. The radio pack allows the pilot to have two way
contact with his ops room. When the pilot enters the
aircraft, he switches to onboard oxygen and internal
radio.
Other
gear
The pilot wears the usual parachute harness with LPU-3/P
life preserver and the CSU-13B/P speed jeans. The use of
the SRU-21/P is very difficult due to the amount of gear
already carried.At the moment, the Airforce is looking for
a replacement that allows more pilots to use one set of
gear. So no customized sets have to be used.
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