Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 403:
Description
WWII U.S. Army Air Forces Type B-6 Winter Flying Helmet with Type AN-6530 Flying Goggles, contract-dated circa 1942-1944. This lot presents an original, combat-period USAAF winter flying helmet and its companion flying goggles, a pattern issued broadly to bomber crews, fighter pilots, and gunners operating in unheated or partially heated aircraft compartments at altitude. The helmet’s partial interior label reads "TYPE B-6 / DRAWING NO. 42G6473 / AF ORDER NO. 42-17988-P / PROPERTY / AIR FORCES U.S. ARMY, " firmly placing its manufacture within the wartime contract system that equipped hundreds of thousands of American airmen, while the goggle bridge is clearly stamped "A-N 6530." No individual name or unit marking is present, and no separate biography or service record accompanies the lot; the grouping stands as a representative example of standard-issue USAAF winter flying gear rather than an identified combination. Standardized in 1942, the Type B-6 helmet became one of the most recognizable pieces of American aircrew equipment of the Second World War, its shearling-lined leather shell offering vital insulation in unpressurized cabins where temperatures at altitude routinely fell well below freezing across both the European and Pacific theaters. The accompanying Type AN-6530 goggles, a joint Army-Navy standardized pattern introduced in 1943 to replace the earlier Type B-7, were worn clipped to the helmet’s retaining straps and issued widely to crews in the ETO, PTO, and CBI before being superseded later in the war by the single-lens Type B-8. Together, helmet and goggles formed the basic protective ensemble of the American airman, a combination immortalized in countless period photographs of bomber crews returning from missions over occupied Europe and fighter pilots scrambling across island airstrips in the Pacific. The helmet is constructed of dark brown leather with a cream shearling fleece lining, fitted with leather goggle-retaining straps closed by black snap fasteners, small metal receiver/wiring loop clips at the ears, and a leather chin strap closing through a japanned metal buckle with a shearling comfort pad. The goggles feature a nickel-plated hinged metal frame stamped "A-N 6530" at the bridge, two-piece glass lenses set in a leather-and-rubber face cushion, and a pale elasticized fabric head strap, shown fitted and clipped in place to the helmet’s retaining loops. Condition throughout is honest and combat-worn. The leather shell shows extensive surface scuffing, finish loss, flaking, and dryness along the seams and edges, with a trace of verdigris visible at one interior wiring clip; the shearling lining, though intact, displays moderate discoloration and matting consistent with age and genuine use. The webbed goggle strap and braided chin-strap cord show fraying, soiling, and loss of elasticity, and the goggles exhibit pitting and oxidized verdigris to the metal frame along with foxing and spotting to the lenses, with the rubberized face cushion cracked and hardened with age. An honest, well-matched example of the classic American flying helmet and goggle combination that equipped USAAF airmen across every theater of the Second World War.
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