A microphone missing just one screw can cause communication failure.
This helmet shell has damage beyond the superficial paint layer.
Preflight checks and biennial inspections
Some flight helmet issues are a bit more subtle than an indented shell. That’s why Mifsud highly recommends that helmet owners read their manuals, check their helmets during each preflight, and send helmets into refurbishment and repair shops for inspection at least every two years whether they’ve personally spotted an issue or not.
“We can find something usually in every component after about a year and a half,” he said. “One way or another, they’re going to end up with a better helmet than the one they sent in.”
76 July/Aug 2024
Evolution does all its sewing, wiring, modifications, etc. in-house. “We’re extremely capable with our in-house capabilities,”
Mifsud assured. “It all comes down to speed, quality and cost.”
About half the helmet parts that need switching out within a few years are those that
Mifsud categorizes as
While pilots can notice that lenses are
getting on can damaged, slowly other
communications degrade
over critical
components are out of sight such as sheathing that
wires time.
“hygiene”
components – materials including liners, pads and mic muffs that gather human sweat and grime. Lenses also commonly degrade with use. “Lenses scratch, they get debris, they get dirty and then over time, they get foggy and eventually you can’t see well...just like a windshield on a car,” he added.
Pilots might get hints that the wires are degrading when they briefly lose sound. Or they might not realize they have a problem until they find themselves in the air without a way to talk to anyone on the ground. That’s a major reason why biennial inspections are crucial, Mifsud said; professional techs dismantle helmets to locate such hidden issues.
“You can’t see cancer inside you,” he said. “I can see what they can’t see. I’m the MRI, the lab results.”
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