G (Gravity) Forces/Strain

[sky_king]

... we were pulling 3 gs according to the accelerometer ...

... It was really weird but I felt like it was kind of hard to think ...

If my students only pulled 3 G's, I'd be sitting in the back seat writing down how much of a pvssy they are. Granted, over time you get used to G's, but I don't even AGSM until about the 5 mark. Also, it's more of flexing your legs, ass cheeks and abdomen.

[stingray]

Keep hitting the weights, and drink alot of fluids. Preferably Jeremiah Weed the night before, followed by a couple of aspirin and a gatorade in the a.m. It works for me

I guess now that you mention it I was really thirsty when we got back.

[flyski32]

Fly regularly. Your body will adapt and you won't feel as fatigued.

....btw you should be able to pull 4-4.5 in the Decathlon no prob, 5 if you know what you're doing.

[devilviper]

I too personally know two guys whom G-locked in tweets and now fly vipers. It's all about your attitude. Plenty of guys puke in tweets, if you have the determination to see it through, the ips / phys guys at upt will help you get over it.

The formula for success at upt and fighters is very simple: the guys that are most hungry and willing to work the hardest usually come out on top.

Never give up.

[HuggyU2]

I fly the T-38 regularly. But when I fly with a guy in my squadron who is an airshow performer in a Pitts S-2B, I get pretty queesy. He flies his airshow routine while I sit there. It's fun, but the large rates, negative-to-positive G's, and such, will get even a guy who flies 9G's kind of queesy.

[Toro]

It's pretty akro capable and we were doing some steep turns with 90 degrees bank and we were pulling 3 gs according to the accelerometer.

First off, it's acro...not akro. You don't need to G-strain (in the typical sense) at 3Gs, but if you're not used to pulling Gs, a modified version might help. If you're in decent shape, you should be able to do it fine.

Anyway, I tried the g-straining maneuver which as far as I understand is just kind of flexing your abs and it helped a little

Sort of. If you were doing a full-up G-strain, you would take a deep breath and tighten up just about every muscle in your body. The main muscles are your quads and abs - imagine what you would do if somebody was about to punch you in the gut and that's what it should feel like. There's a breathing cycle (quick releases every three seconds), but at 3Gs you don't need to worry about that. All you're doing in a G-strain is preventing blood from being pulled from your brain to your lower extremities. If you tighten up your muscles you should be fine.

but what do you guys do, and can i get better? I go to the gym 3x a week and work on lifting weights, running, squats and crunches, is there anything else I should be doing?

Not trying to come off as a dick, but 3Gs is nothing. If you can pass a PT test (or even if you can't) you can pull 3Gs - we generally don't even strain until we hit about 4Gs. If you are in decent shape, there's nothing you need to do to increase your tolerance for flying a taildragger -- you just need more flying time so your body can get used to it.

[Riddller]

Hydration is a big one. I didn't fly for two weeks from being sick (not in the airplane) and didn't drink enough water before flying again. I actually felt queazy and my G-tolerance was crap. Drink a lot of water!!

[Sean00xj]

I'm soon headed to the viper. I do legs (squats, leg press, lunges, and ham string curls) twice a week. I dont do too much cardio and I eat fairly well. I've been told that those who have nearly 9G resting tolerances have horrible diets, drink tons of coffee and smoke. I would think clogged arteries would slow down blood flow trying to get back to the brain under G. What are some things I can do to improve my G tolerance? should I take up smoking and drinking a gallon of coffee every day(half serious)?

[egochecks]

Hydration is a big one. I didn't fly for two weeks from being sick (not in the airplane) and didn't drink enough water before flying again. I actually felt queazy and my G-tolerance was crap. Drink a lot of water!!

According to the phys guys, if you're 3% dehydrated you've lost 50% of your G tolerance. When you're thirsty you're 2% dehydrated. So stay hydrated.

[Hacker]

What are some things I can do to improve my G tolerance? should I take up smoking and drinking a gallon of coffee every day(half serious)?

The more important question is, are you having a problem with it now? If you're not having a problem with it in IFF, the techniques provided during your qual spin at Holloman should be more than adequate to keep you awake in the Viper.

As was said earlier, if you are "USAF standard" physically fit -- if you can pass the PT test -- you should generally be just fine to handle G once you use the techniques taught by the physiology people without some "program" to get you ready for it.

If you ARE having a problem dealing with G in the T-38, even after going to the 'fuge (or if you've failed the 'fuge and have to go back to pass in order to go to FTU) then talk to the physiologists and they can design a specific workout routine to work with your body type.

[Guest Giggity]

What happens to a B-courser that washes out or DOR's for G's? I've been working out (legs and interval sprints mostly) quite a bit and it doesn't seem to help. The squadron is going to send me back to Holloman for a few days to see if that helps. So, my question is, if that doesn't work or if I decide it's not worth the risk and DOR what are my options? I'd prefer to hear from people that have BTDT or know someone who has rather than speculation. I understand that UAVs or RC-12's are a very likely option. Are there any other possibilities?

[Toro]

What happens to a B-courser that washes out or DOR's for G's? I've been working out (legs and interval sprints mostly) quite a bit and it doesn't seem to help. The squadron is going to send me back to Holloman for a few days to see if that helps. So, my question is, if that doesn't work or if I decide it's not worth the risk and DOR what are my options? I'd prefer to hear from people that have BTDT or know someone who has rather than speculation. I understand that UAVs or RC-12's are a very likely option. Are there any other possibilities?

I know of a girl who couldn't pass the fuge and ended up going to heavies.

[Guest Giggity]

You were an IP at SJ. Did you guys ever have someone washout or DOR and if so, where did they go? Did the girl have any say what she flew?

[schokie]

I didn't have any serious problems at the 'fuge, but 2 guys I went through Pcola with did. Both dudes didn't pass their first time out.

One of them got put on a weight training program with emphasis on lower body. The Navy also let him sandbag rides in the T-2. When he went back later he past with no problems and moved on to the Strike Eagle where he had no problems.

The other guy failed horribly. He got put on a similar program to the first guy. When he went back he failed again. He was a good dude, just couldn't pass the 'fuge, so he ended up getting a B-1 out of it.

It's not that difficult to pass, I suspect the 2nd dude let it mess with his cranium too much.

[Guest Kaz]

While I was in the viper B-CRS at Luke (2005/2006) a buddy of mine GLOC'd during the BFM phase and was sent to Holloman to re-accomplish the 9G profile. After three days of unsuccessful re-testing he was sent back to Luke and removed from training. During the interim he was told to expect reassignment to a non-fighter ACC aircraft. It took AFPC 6 months to reassign him to the B-1 and another 6 to get him PCS orders. FYI, he requested the B-1 and probably got it due to his awesome attitude about the whole situation.

If the same thing happened today you can probably expect a PCS to a UAV, U-28, or RC-12 with a much shorter wait for orders and training.

Side note - our class had two guys GLOC during the program. The other guy (guard) went back to the fuge, passed, and had no problems finishing the B-CRS.

Edited November 3, 2008 by Kaz

[Bronco130]

Sustained 10g

Not sure how to embed this type of clip, maybe someone can help me out. Anyway, the 3rd guy going through the fuge' (2:42 in the clip) sustains 10.2g's for three minutes. Is this real? Knowing guys that have gone through the centrifuge, they say holding 7.5 for 15 seconds sucks...can't imagine 10 for 3 mins.

[Toro]

Is this real? Knowing guys that have gone through the centrifuge, they say holding 7.5 for 15 seconds sucks...can't imagine 10 for 3 mins.

I don't know whether it's real or not, but he's wearing some sort of special suit. I know there was testing on a full-body liquid suit several years ago that was supposed to greatly increase G-resistance.

G-Suit article

Regardless, the test seems odd. Not only is he talking fairly normally at 10Gs, but he has his hand up to his mask most of the time. If the centrifuge was spinning around at 10Gs, it would be difficult to move your hand to your face, impossible to leave it dangling like he is.

[Wolf424]

If the centrifuge was spinning around at 10Gs, it would be difficult to move your hand to your face, impossible to leave it dangling like he is.

2, and if you watch, he doesn't seem to have a problem moving his head around, i.e. when he is talking (even those little movements would be hard to do at 6gs, let alone 10) At 10gs, there is no way they those movements would be that smooth and fluid. They would be very jerky and sudden.

[Mutt]

I was fortunate enough to be one of the lab rats to test the suit in the fuge. During my time at Wright-Patt (02-05) I was helping test this system out for possible implementation into our units.

Quoting from one of the sites out there:

"A new design of G-suit has been developed by the Germans, called Libelle G-suit. It is filled with liquid. As the pilot is subjected to the G-force, the liquid is pushed down to the pilot's leg by the same G-force. The result is a much faster response than the pneumatic version. Preliminary test shows that pilot wearing the Libelle G-suit can withstand a force of 10G with ease while the same pilot barely withstand 9G in regular G-suit. Libelle is the German word for dragonfly, which was where the idea come from."

The AF was highly interested in this suit for its alert crews. Being that it is self contained with water bladders, the pilot does not have to conect into the aircrafts bleed-air system. The only negatives of this suit, is that it weighs a ton (custom taylored for each person) and it takes longer to put on. Oh and maybe on the plus side, if the pilot ever had to eject with this suit on, he already has self contained drinkable water.

One of my bros who is now an Eagle driver was able to sustain 9 Gz for almost 8 min. Thats impressive even if you go to the fuge all the time and build up tolerance. But the kicker was that he was able to talk pretty easily during that time. The developers basically modified the AGSM to be used w/ the suit. The main difference is that instead of a sharp inhale/exhale every 3 seconds, the pilot is taking slower deep breaths along w/ tightening his lower body (mainly glutes).

In my case I was able to survive rapid onsets and variable high G transitions (simulated ACM) with relative ease.

I definetly preferred this suit over the current pneumatic version that is being used. I didnt feel as drained after getting out of the fuge when I used the Libelle. Partly I believe this is because of the breathing technique for the AGSM we currently use. If you are not getting the proper exchange when you are inhaling and exhaling, your body gets fatigued trying to get the O2 that you are losing. The slower deeper breathing for the Libelle allows you to focus on more important things.

Mutt

[brabus]

One of my bros who is now an Eagle driver was able to sustain 9 Gz for almost 8 min. Thats impressive even if you go to the fuge all the time and build up tolerance. But the kicker was that he was able to talk pretty easily during that time.

That's awesome. Man I wish we had these.

[Flare]

I call BS.......he is definately not pulling 10g's!

[Mutt]

I call BS.......he is definately not pulling 10g's!

The fuge at WPAFB could not get us up to 10. We were able to hold 9Gz for longer than average periods of times with this suit. And yes they did do some endurance testing.

I'm pretty sure the fuge at Brooks AFB is able to do that kind of testing. Theirs is newer and could also do rapid onsets w/o cheating.

Dont know what the Germans use to test their guys.

[Guest NativeTexan]

Revival

What are the fuge profiles for the -16, -15, -22 and A-10? For the -22 profile, do they recline the seat 30 degrees or do they keep it like the -15? What about the A-10?

[osulax05]

https://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/medi...s/afi11-404.pdf