ZSh-3, Soviet Flight Helmet system
with the ShL/Z-50, ShL/Z-78, and ShL/Z-82


This is one version of the ZSh-3M helmet and this is the most modern and common of all. The leather helmet liner is the ShZ-82 and the oxygen mask is a KM-32.

 The ZSh-3 Pilot Helmet was first introduced in the early 1960's and is used in virtually every type of Soviet-made aircraft - from the MiG-17 to the MiG-29, from the Il-76 cargo plane to the Mi-24 Attack Helicopter.  This is the most widely used flight helmet in the world.

Also note that the ZSh-3 is never worn without the liner helmet.  This helmet can be one of three different types - the ShL/Z-50, ShL/Z-78, or the ShL/Z-82.  Each of these leather helmets has a winter and summer version.  The ShZ-78 has a mesh variant for the summer, while the other two simply have a thinner leather with no fur.  These leather helmets also give a much greater flexibility in fit for individual pilots.

 

The ZSh-3 is a very simple design.  It has a main protective helmet with two small wings that cover the ears.  There are three air vents in the upper front of the helmet to aid in air circulation around the pilot's head and to limit the pressure on the pilot's head in case of ejection by allowing air to flow through.

The visor (sun shield) has three positions, however, a great number of pilots preferred goggles instead of having to flip the sun-shield up and down.  These glasses - the bug eyes - are located in the lower right of this picture.  The nomenclature of the goggles is PO-1M which possibly stands for Prozrachnie Ochki - Modernizirovannie (clear lens, modernized).  The old box type goggles were probably called the PO-1 (clear lens, first in the series).

 

Here's a twin visored ZSh-3M.  This visor style was adopted for use on the ZSh-3B, because it provided full time protection for the pilot, then when desired, the sun visor could be lowered.  More pictures below.

This one is a little hard to see, but it is the naval aviator helmet from 1962 - a ZSh-3 with a blue visor.  This is the -3, no further designations.  This one is in superb condition and these are very rare.  The blue is a dark blue, not the off-blue of the ZSh-5's.

Here's the original - a ZSh-3 from 1964.

And here is the exact same helmet after restoration by Ruben Rodriguez. All parts are original, it is the same helmet and visor it took time to polish the visor (2 hrs) as it is a long process and also to find the correct paint,  I did it at work using aircraft composite materials to fill the damaged sections and antistatic aircraft paint used to paint the nose (radar section).

Here's an example of an ShZ-82 with the KM-32.  The differences between the ShZ-78, and 82 are very slight and internal only.  The ShZ-50 will have the front strap extend beneath the guidance ridge on top.  Externally, the helmets look the same - they all have the same guidance ridge on top that aligns with the gap inside the protective helmet.  Note that the ShZ is the winter version and the ShL is the summer version.

The ZSh-3 uses two different oxygen masks - the KM-16 and the KM-32.  The KM-16 is for when the helmet is used by helicopter pilots and the KM-32 is for fixed-wing aircraft.

Note the bladder attached to the right mask.  As the pilot's need for oxygen increases, the bladder fills with air, which pushes the pilots mouth more tightly into the mask.
   
Technical Details:

The ZSh-3 comes in all three sizes - 1, 2, and 3.  The leather helmet liners come in sizes from 53 to 62.  The visor comes in three shades.  The first ZSh-3's issued had a baby blue visor that did not block the sun well.  Next was a charcoal, then came a dark amber.  Current models have the dark amber sun shield.

  

Purchaser tips:

Look for the edges of the helmet by the front brackets - the rubber gasket that edges the helmet will show wear on more heavily used helmets.  Because of the way the ear flaps of this helmet are hinged, there are extra surfaces where the padding is attached to the hard shell of the helmet.  The cloth covering the padding will show its first signs of wear at these points.  Some wear is normal and even on new helmets there may be some separation of the material.  The insides of these helmets are all generally in very good condition because they never actually come in contact with the pilot's head.  The ZSh-3 starts losing value because of blemishes on the outer shell.  It will readily become scratched, which isn't too big of a problem  But the fact that the visor is not protected in any way when it is up, is the first place where a helmet starts losing value.  The visors get scratched pretty quickly and pretty badly.  These can be ground out by specialty shops, but that is an added cost.  The brackets on the ZSh-3 are extremely subject to oxidation - it could even be very bad on a brand new helmet - it all depends how much moisture was in with the helmet during storage.  This also cleans up fairly easily, except on the screw bolt that leads to the bracket holding the visor.  

 The lowest end ZSh-3A helmets can draw from $150 to $225.  A model in like new condition should draw over $300 (assuming that an oxygen mask is included).
   


This is a modification to the normal ZSh-3.  The ZSh-3B was first used by Mi-24 Hind pilots in Afghanistan to protect them from shrapnel.  It's shell is made from ballistic titanium.  It weighs a couple pounds more than the standard ZSh-3.  It only comes in sizes 1 and 2.  A ZSh-3B is very expensive and even a low end model should draw $300.  Like new should be good for $400 or more.