[bsmith13]

http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/ajc/swf/bl...blueangels.swf

[STARMAN 352ND]

LOL....He passed out three times...
JP

[SKUNKY]

What a girly man!....I wouldn't-a winked out more than twice....

[flyXwire]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

LOL....He passed out three times...
JP

Definitely not 'pilot-material'...

[FormerViperDriver]

Well, in his defense, the Blue Angels don't fly with G-suits (which would have helped him), and they don't seem to have explained to him how to do a proper anti-G straining maneuver (or he wasn't paying attention when they did).

Now just think if he had been in an F-16 and pulled 9Gs instead of just 7.5 that the F-18 can pull (and believe me, that's a big difference, even if the F-16's reclined seat helps a bit)...

FVD

[bsmith13]

I got a range familiarization ride in an F-16. I could only pull 5.5 Gs before I started feeling weird, but we found out later that the crew chief hadn't connected the G-suit. And FVD is correct - even I got more G-strain training than this guy did.

[FormerViperDriver]

Originally Posted by bsmith13

I got a range familiarization ride in an F-16. I could only pull 5.5 Gs before I started feeling weird, but we found out later that the crew chief hadn't connected the G-suit. And FVD is correct - even I got more G-strain training than this guy did.

Yeah, that G-suit sure helps a lot. It's estimated it gives you about 1.5G extra tolerance, everything else being equal. But it has to be plugged in...

FVD

[jim]

That made me chuckle, great stuff.

I had that done to me when flying with a pal at Duxford. Its a weird feeling when the lights go out.

The thing I remember most is that as we pulled out of a dive to climb into a loop my feet felt red hot and I got pins and needle sensations in my head!!!!!

That was just before the lights went out.

I came around at the top of the loop and believe me I didnt know which planet I was on for a few seconds never mind which way up I was or where the ground was.

I loved every minute of that flight and I owe good old Howard a big thank you for giving me the chance to have a try at aerobatics.
Its serious fun and the best time I think I ever had.

You jet jockeys have all the fun.

[FormerViperDriver]

Now, all this being said, we have to remember that we lost several fully-trained pilots to G-induced Loss of Consciousness (G-LOC) when the F-16 first came out (a couple of incidents happened in the F-15, and even one that I know of in the A-10). The pilots blacked out and the aircraft flew into the ground before they woke up, or they woke up too late to figure out what was going on.

As a consequence, the Air Force instituted a formal G resistance training program around 1987 or so. When I first became a fighter pilot in the early 80s, we never had to go to the centrifuge. But before I went to F-16 upgrade training in 1988, I had to go the the centrifuge in San Antonio (Brooks AFB at that time) to go through "G Awareness" training. We went up to 6Gs for 30 seconds, 9Gs for 15 seconds looking forward, and 9Gs for 10 seconds looking back over your shoulder (with a short break to 1.5 G between each). Very hard, but valuable training. The Air Force also changed the G-straining maneuver at the time (combination of tensing of leg/abdominal muscles and forced exhalation), based on the latest research. The AF also recommended weight training, and to limit aerobic exercise (such as long-distance running) because that may lower blood pressure too much and that can be a significant contributing factor to G tolerance. Let's just say I didn't start running marathons until after I stopped flying jets...

The problem was particularly serious in the F-16 because not only could it do 9Gs, but more importantly the G onset rate was very high (from 1 to 9Gs in 1.5 seconds), and that's what actually is very dangerous (more than the max G per se). In the F-16, the computer limits the airplane to 9Gs automatically, so you can pull as hard as you want without fear of over-stressing the aircraft (assuming an air-to-air configuration), and so you can bring om the Gs very fast compared to other contemporary jets where you have to be more careful. This means if you don't ready yourself properly, you are at risk of blacking out.

I ended up going back to the centriguge once more in my career, at Soesterberg in the Netherlands this time, after being on a staff tour for 3 years in the early 90s and going back to F-16 re-qual.

FVD

[Shawn 507]

Originally Posted by bsmith13

I got a range familiarization ride in an F-16. I could only pull 5.5 Gs before I started feeling weird, but we found out later that the crew chief hadn't connected the G-suit. And FVD is correct - even I got more G-strain training than this guy did.

That would require W2W counseling for sure!!