Below is a standard issue Soviet winter leather helmet of 1930s-1940s. Helmets of this type were made out of several pieces of sheep, goat or dog leather joned together and had dog fur inside. Big flaps used to cover pilot's neck from the front and sides. This helmet does not have any built in earphones, but has small openings near the ear level on each side of the helmet over which headsets could be placed. These openings are covered by small buttoned ear flaps. As the war progressed, and Soviet airplanes started to come equipped with radio stations, helmets of this type were replaced with newer designs - somewhat redesigned copies of German LW flight helmets.   Inside, helmet is lined with dog fur. Unlike German winter helmets of that time, Soviets either did not have enough money or simply did not care to line their helmets with better material. Great example of Soviet ideology - "make it simple, make it work". Here is a close up on the left ear flap which covers the earphone opening. The flap was sued to the helmet in the front and had a button on the back, thus allowing easy installation of radio equipment. Goggles are held in place by two leather straps located on the back of the helmet. This design probably proved to be somewhat cumbersome in use and later helmets were also provided with two additional side straps to securely hold goggles in place. Front view of the helmet. Note how flaps are covering pilot's neck.   Shown here is a possible pilot setup consisting of the helmet, US made lend-lease earphones and goggles (post ww2 production goggles were used because at the time the picture was made I did not have original set). Same setup as above... This setup uses same items as in picture above, but with an addition of the winter face mask. Mask is tucked inside of the helmet, but it is possible that such masks were worn over the helmet.