Type A-9 summer flying helmet

Size:                      M

Order No.:              42-19389-P

Drawing No.:           426685

The A-9 is a simple unlined summer flying helmet constructed from four segments of heavy cotton. It features hooks to fit the harness of either the type A-9 or type A-10 Standard oxygen masks, tie strings (forehead and neck) for adjustment and a fleece-covered leather chin strap. It was manufactured without communication equipment, but Gosport receivers or small leather ear cups with earphones could easily be added.

Type A-9 oxygen mask

Manufacturer:                   Acushnet Rubber Company

Production date:               January 1942

Size:                               "short"

Specification No.:              3125

Order No.:                        W535 AC24003

This was the first US oxygen mask designed for use with the new diluter/demand regulators. Molded of synthetic rubber it is attached to the flight helmet by four elasticized straps with hooks at the end. The lower right hand retaining strap is fitted with a non locking "D" shaped hook allowing a quick detachment of the mask in case of need. In order to be worn without flight helmet, a full harness ("Juliet") was issued with the mask.

The corrugated rubber hose is equipped with a quick release connector, the latter actually being a copy of a German design.

Although the mask is fitted with an adjusting wire across the bridge of the nose, the mask would not fit securely, especially in combat maneuvers, and only relatively few were produced.

Anyway, the diluter/demand principle proved to be an immense step forward compared to the constant flow masks and Acushnet soon developed a successor for the Army Air Forces, the type A-10.

Type AN6530 flying goggles

The new AN (Army/Navy) nomenclature system was introduced while improvements and modifications were being built into the "predecessor" of the AN6530, the type B-7.

So actually the AN6530 might be called a "redesigned mid-production second pattern

B-7", and was produced in different versions. As a consequence there are a wide array of different features: separate cushions or one-piece face pad, nickel plated or flat finished frames, tubular or streamlined air vents.