Helmet refurbishments are a great way to rejuvenate that old helmet you love and just don't want to give up! From repainting, to comfort upgrades, to communications system installations, we pride ourselves in ensuring our customers with high-quality enhancements that equate to those of a brand new helmet. 

For each of the helmet refurbishments discussed in this blog post, we added communication ear plugs, installed a volume control knob, and added a helmet cable with a plug that contains a built-in Mask/Boom microphone switch. The switch allows the wearer to easily switch their microphone from the boom mic to the oxygen mask microphone, which is convenient for a pilot switching from one to the other while flying. Without the switch, the pilot would have to unplug one mic cord to plug in the other mic cord. FlightHelmet.com offers these switch plugs for helmets with and without ANR earphones.

In the helmet above, the switch is configured for a helmet without ANR, which is typically 
the way this switch plug is seen. The switch plug in this configuration has the same contacts as a standard 4 conductor single plug, commonly known as a TP-120 or U-174 single plug.

For helmets with ANR, the ANR power wire is integrated into the single cable assembly, so a 5 conductor plug is needed, similar to a U-384 5-conductor plug. To interface the 5 conductor switch plug to the usual 4 conductor aircraft jack, we build a custom extension cable that has the 5 conductor jack that mates with the 5 conductor switch plug. It then branches out into the standard 4 conductor TP-120 / U-174 single plug and separate ANR power wire. This either plugs into an auto-shut off battery box or into an aircraft panel power jack kit.

If you are considering refurbishing your helmet with a built-in Mask/Boom switch, give us a call at (800) 531-4898 or send us an email at customerservice@flighthelmet.com for more information.