Warplanes: Not Too Soon To Learn About Gravity

Archives

May 7, 2010: The Israeli Air Force is changing its pilot training, giving new pilots centrifuge training earlier in their careers. The centrifuge device whips pilots around in a circular motion at high speed, which recreates the effects of high speed turns. This sort of thing puts high G (Gravity) force on the pilot, which is disorienting, and can even cause black outs.

The immediate reason for the training change was the recent death of a pilot during an air combat exercise. This bit of training involved some "dog fighting" (lots of sharp turns) and the pilot was believed to have suffered G force disorientation, which led to the accident that killed him.

 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close