Flight helmet

Flight helmets were part of the flight suit worn by pilots. There were many different styles throughout the various factions that fielded pilots, but they all had several design elements in common, in particular a visor protecting the eyes.

The era of the Republic
Before the Clone Wars, the Galactic Republic had no central military. Various planets had their own forces; however, and some of those, such as Naboo, had starfighter corps. Royal Naboo Security Forces pilots had brown, leather-like helmets with visors. Early in the Clone Wars, clone pilots wore white helmets similar to phase I clone trooper helmets, but with air tubes. By the time of ARC trooper CT-5555's escape from Tipoca City a new model of helmet for clone pilots had been introduced, and this helmet left some of their face exposed. This type of helmet was used by pilots like Gold Leader during the Battle for Anaxes, Clone Commander CC-2237 during the Battle of Coruscant and "Jag" during Order 66.

The Rebellion and Resistance
Pilots of the Rebel Alliance often wore the starbird symbol on their helmets. There were several different designs of Rebel flight helmet. X-wing and Y-wing pilots, during the early rebellion and Galactic Civil War, usually wore a rounded helmet with a chinstrap. A-wing and B-wing pilots, however, usually wore a different design with cheek pieces and no chinstrap. By the time of the Cold war thirty years later, the Resistance's X-wing pilots wore a helmet design that was an updated version of the type from the Galactic Civil War. In all cases, modified helmets were available for those whose species prevented them from fitting into human-standard helmets. Rylothian pilot Yendor had a custom helmet with holes for his lekku, and fellow Twi'lek Hera Syndulla wore a pilot's cap and custom visor.

The Empire and First Order
Imperial TIE pilots wore helmets similar in design to those of stormtroopers, except they were black. They had breathing tubes that connected to a device worn on the chest, as TIE fighters typically did not have pressurized cockpits. Thirty years later, the First Order's pilots, in keeping with their copying of the Imperial aesthetic, wore similar-looking helmets.