FROM THE COCKPIT — Tracy’s Helmet

Bill Lavender | bill@agairupdate.com

If you only read one article in the February issue of AgAir Update, be sure it is Tracy Thurman’s “Hands on Flying” column about ag-pilot helmets, “Three Pounds”. Tracy is an excellent writer (has some western books on Amazon) with a very enticing dialogue when it comes to making a point. He has the ability to drive home something important related to our industry with a bit of dry wit, making for a good read.

Tracy’s column this month about helmets is a perfect example of how he can make the reader sit back and soak in his words. The following is an excerpt:

“Consider this: everything that is you, your ideas, your personality, your dreams, the way you walk, talk, eat and sleep, everything that is your life and essence is completely and only contained within three pounds of gelatinous goop floating around in grease encased in about a quarter inch of bone.”

Tracy is describing your brain and goes on to explain how the helmet is an important component to protecting those three pounds. He acknowledges some pilots don’t wear helmets, but he also proves that’s probably not a good idea. With high-tech helmets that are available today; lightweight, noise canceling, smaller overall size, made of space-age strong materials, I agree.

I vividly remember in the late 1970s (because I can recall the approximate year based on the aircraft I was flying) I was approaching to land in my Ag-Cat. I had the left side door open and streamlining in the wind. This was before airconditioning. I did not have the chinstrap snapped in place. For whatever reason, I stuck my head out into the wind to look back and instantly my coveted helmet flew off my head to land in the swamp below.

I was young at the time, about 25 or 26 years old, and bullet proof. “What the heck? I just lost a $600 helmet (the price in those days). What did I need a “crash” helmet for? If I was going to crash, I wouldn’t fly the aircraft!” I’m sure you’ve heard that cliche before; a dumb statement.

I don’t recall when I decided to buy another helmet, but I did. Thank goodness, because in 1983, I managed to end upside down underwater in a Thrush after an overloaded takeoff. When the aircraft went over its nose and onto its back at 70 mph into the water, it was not pretty. After I finally stopped trying to breath water and mud upside down, strapped in the cockpit, I came to my senses and kicked my way out of the Thrush. There wasn’t much kicking to do, as a good portion of the canopy was gone. If not for the helmet I was wearing, it is very likely I wouldn’t be writing this editorial today.

Many pilots will be starting their season in the coming months, while many are finishing and others have already started a new season for 2020. Don’t let the mild inconvenience of wearing a helmet stop you from wearing it. If you are uncomfortable with your helmet, buy another one that is comfortable. It may take a long flying day’s earnings to pay for it, but it will be worth it. Helmets are one of those things you don’t need until you need it. Besides, you are going to spend hundreds of hours wearing it, make yourself as comfortable as possible. Wear the damn helmet!

Until next month, Keep Turning…