Mark Dickson wrote:
Pretty much the only pilots that wear helmets are military
pilots, and that is probably due to the excessive g
they experience and the forces involved in ejecting.
Also for attaching sun visors, oxygen masks, headphones
and mics. Glider pilots definately do not need helmets;
not in the air anyway, maybe on the ground to protect
against walking into trailing edges.

I do know of one pilot that wears a helmet while wave flying. It looks
like a military jet pilot's helmet, including the darkened "goggle"
portion that covers the eyes. He does it for the warmth in normal wave
flying, for protection from the bright sun (he doesn't fly wave where I
fly!), to support the oxygen mask, to provide protection from a canopy
that shatters in the cold, and for protection from the wind and cold if
he has to bail out at high altitudes.

He doesn't have any problems with clearance to the canopy, but I think a
lot of pilots would.

I rarely fly above 18,000 in wave, but if I did it routinely, I'd
consider wearing a helmet.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org