Original Chinese Air Force Cold War TK-1 High Altitude Flight Helmet Set Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a rare complete Chinese Air Force Cold War era Tk-1 high altitude flight helmet. The TK1 is comprised of three main parts; Nylon under helmet with communication components (transceiver and receivers, fire resistant lace up hood with neck protection and external rigid plastic shell with removable air tight clear face visor. The visor incorporates oxygen and communication lines. Visor is also heated to prevent icing and fogging at cold temperatures due to high altitudes. Overall condition is excellent. Size is approximately a 7 1/2 (60cm).

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) was officially established on 11 November 1949 and it is composed of 5 branches which are aviation, anti-aircraft artillery, surface-to-air missiles, radar and Airborne Corps. As of 2014, the PLAAF has a strength of around 398,000 personnel and is the largest air force in Asia.

The PLA Air Force underwent reorganization and streamlining as part of the reduction in force begun in 1985. Before the 1985 reorganization, the Air Force reportedly had four branches: air defense, ground attack, bombing, and independent air regiments.[12] In peacetime the Air Force Directorate, under the supervision of the PLA General Staff Department, controlled the Air Force through headquarters located with, or in communication with, each of the seven military region headquarters. In war, control of the Air Force probably reverted to the regional commanders. In 1987 it was not clear how the reorganization and the incorporation of air support elements into the group armies affected air force organization. The largest Air Force organizational unit was the division, which consisted of 17,000 personnel in three regiments. A typical air defense regiment had three squadrons of three flights; each flight had three or four aircraft. The Air Force also had 220,000 air defense personnel who controlled about 100 surface-to-air missile sites and over 16,000 AA guns. In addition, it had a large number of early-warning, ground-control-intercept, and air-base radars manned by specialized troops organized into at least twenty-two independent regiments.