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00:00The Thunderbirds air display team.
00:28The top guns of the United States Air Force.
00:32They fly the F-16, the world's most agile fighter.
00:38It gives the ultimate flying thrill.
00:42As soon as you take off and you light the afterburner,
00:44you get an awesome sense of power and acceleration,
00:47better than any sports car that you could drive.
00:59The Thunderbirds make flying look smooth and easy.
01:04But they face an invisible enemy.
01:07G-forces, the forces of gravity.
01:11There's a lot of weight that you feel on your body.
01:15If you're pulling at six Gs,
01:16you can multiply all the weight of your body by six.
01:19Five, that's up, six, five!
01:21What I tell a lot of folks is it just feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest.
01:26If the G-forces become too much, they can overwhelm the pilot.
01:31The result, G-lock.
01:33Gravity-induced loss of consciousness.
01:35It means even a fighter ace can end up like this.
01:40Deep breath. Get on with your guard up.
01:42Hold it. Hold it. On top.
01:44Breathe. Breathe.
01:45One, two, three. Try to hold it for three seconds.
01:49Have it down.
02:00When my G-lock occurred, it was bam, completely blacked out.
02:06It was like a ton of bricks just fell upon you.
02:11When I came to, I didn't even know where I was.
02:15You can't move anything.
02:18It's a very incredible feeling.
02:22G-lock is the fighter pilot's hidden killer.
02:26In recent years, it's cost lives and billions of dollars in crashed planes.
02:32Conquering it is the biggest challenge facing aviation medicine today.
02:36A challenge that could lead to the pilot being removed from the cockpit altogether.
02:45Anyone who's ever been to the funfair has felt the force of gravity.
03:014G on a state-of-the-art roller coaster.
03:03It's the G-forces pinning you to your seat that bring the thrills.
03:12Ever since planes flew in combat, pilots have been aware of the danger from G-forces.
03:17In 1917, a first World War pilot reached 4.5G during a sharp turn.
03:24He reported that everything went dark and misty in front of him.
03:28In World War II, there were stories of German Stuka pilots blacking out at 7G.
03:38But the advent of the latest jet fighters like the F-15 and F-16 in America
03:43and the MiG-29 in the then-Soviet Union has brought a new twist to the problem.
03:52These immensely powerful planes can turn faster and tighter than any previous jet.
03:59Tight turning is vital because in a dogfight,
04:01the winner is the pilot who can turn inside his opponent, get behind him and shoot him down.
04:07But this has put new pressure on the human body.
04:14When you roll into the turn, if you don't prepare yourself,
04:18what can happen is the G-forces essentially can overcome your body.
04:21That feeling of heaviness translates as well to the blood,
04:25which is essentially pooling down in the lower extremities of your body
04:30and not staying up in your brain to allow you to function.
04:33As the plane rolls on its side to turn and the pilot rolls with it,
04:40the gravitational force is pushing from the head to the feet.
04:45The tighter and faster this turn, the greater the G-force.
04:49In the latest jets, it can go up to 9G, nine times the force of gravity.
04:55The result, the pilot's blood is forced away from his brain.
04:59Without blood, the brain becomes starved of oxygen
05:03with the potentially disastrous result of G-lock.
05:07You're unconscious, you pass out, airplanes heading downhill,
05:11usually going pretty fast.
05:13And a lot of times what has happened historically
05:16is that the pilot does not wake up and recover in time to avoid crashing.
05:20So you crash.
05:21In a combat situation, if you're out there and you G-lock,
05:24you could have a bandit roll in and shoot you
05:27and there's nothing you can do about it.
05:28So basically, in either way, you're going to die.
05:33Luke Air Base, Arizona.
05:35Here, the cream of America's trainee pilots learn to fly the F-16.
05:40Some will encounter the full horror of G-lock.
05:44Chief instructor and Gulf War veteran, Major Robert Kesterson,
05:47can pass on first-hand knowledge.
05:50On a training run in Georgia, he was overcome by G-forces.
05:54We were out in a 2v2 situation
05:59where the adversaries happened to be F-15s
06:01and we were fighting these guys.
06:03We happened to be fairly high speed, about 520 knots or so.
06:07And we know we had merged with these guys
06:10and we were just looking for them visually
06:12and I couldn't see them.
06:15I rolled in bird and looked down and they were just below me.
06:19So without thinking about it, without getting prepared,
06:21I just pulled back on the stick and it was about an 8.5 G pull.
06:30Major Kesterson began to suffer the classic symptoms of G-lock.
06:37As the blood drained out of his head,
06:40the first organs to be affected were his eyes,
06:42resulting in tunnel vision.
06:44Then he lost any sense of colour
06:49and then grey out.
06:55He could still hear, but that was all.
07:00About 40 degrees through that pull,
07:03I started getting the grey out and then it went completely grey
07:05and couldn't see anything, basically.
07:10It was sort of more of a surprise that I wasn't ready for it
07:14and then I felt like I'd made a mistake is the way I felt.
07:17And what I was thinking was that the guy I was fighting
07:19was going to get away because I couldn't see how to complete the intercept.
07:22The experienced Major Kesterson,
07:27knowing the warning signs, pulled out of his turn just in time.
07:31The blood returned to his brain,
07:33his sight came back and he got home safely.
07:39Lieutenant Toby Braylor, by contrast,
07:41was new to F-16s.
07:44On an early training flight,
07:45he failed to notice those tell-tale warnings.
07:48The first time I G-locked in the aircraft,
07:51it happened rather quickly.
07:53The last thing I remember is seeing about 67 Gs
07:55on the G-meter as I was pulling the stick back.
07:58The next thing I know, everything went black.
08:00I felt a little fuzziness
08:02and almost a lack of awareness,
08:05not really knowing what was going on.
08:08Luckily for Lieutenant Braylor,
08:10he was in a two-seater trainer
08:11and his instructor was able to take control
08:14while he recovered.
08:16Otherwise, he could have crashed
08:18and died.
08:19I came out of it kind of with a ringing in my head.
08:22It was almost as if I had been in,
08:24almost in a dream state.
08:26But it was frightening thinking
08:28that this could happen at any time
08:31while I'm out there flying by myself
08:33and thinking that I could be in a situation
08:35where I may not be able to recover from.
08:39Recently, the U.S. Air Force admitted
08:41it had lost at least 18 pilots to G-lock
08:44in the past 12 years.
08:45Every year, another 20 come close to death.
08:5124 aircraft worth up to $60 million
08:54have crashed,
08:55a total cost of nearly $1.5 billion.
08:58The Americans are the only publicly acknowledged
09:02that G-lock has killed its pilots.
09:05So now it's a top priority,
09:07both in current training
09:08and research into new ways to defeat it.
09:11Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.
09:18This is where trainee fighter pilots
09:20come from all over America
09:22to learn how to make their bodies fight gravity.
09:24They're about to undergo a nerve-wracking experience.
09:34Today's class have nearly finished
09:36their basic flying instruction.
09:38They want to go on to fly
09:39the most powerful jets in the world.
09:41For some, it will be the F-16 fighter.
09:45Others, the A-10 tank buster.
09:48They have just one day
09:49to prove their bodies are up to it.
09:52An exciting future awaits them all,
09:55but only if they can beat G-lock.
09:57A pilot's body can usually withstand
10:033 to 5G without any ill effect.
10:06But an F-16 can pull 9G,
10:09enough to push the blood from the head
10:11right down to the legs.
10:14Today, we're going to go through
10:15about two hours of academics
10:17here in the classroom.
10:18And that's when we're going to go over
10:18the L-1 anti-G straining maneuver,
10:20what we find to be the most effective technique
10:22to help you stay awake
10:24while you're pulling Gs in the jet.
10:25If you do exactly what I...
10:28To counter the G-forces
10:29and stop the blood from pooling in their legs,
10:32the pilots are taught a specially designed
10:34breathing and straining exercise.
10:37It starts by getting the good tension
10:39in all the muscles in the lower body,
10:41the calves, the quads, the hamstrings,
10:44the butt, and the stomach.
10:45Have those muscles all very tight.
10:47That's going to restrict blood flow
10:48to the lower extremities,
10:50therefore giving you a greater volume
10:52in the chest and the brain.
10:53Get all the muscles tight.
10:54Deep breath of air.
10:57Pull back on the stick.
10:58On top.
10:59Breathe.
11:00One, two, three.
11:03One, two, three.
11:06The effect is to squeeze
11:07and narrow the veins and arteries
11:09in the lower body
11:10and so block blood
11:11entering from the head and chest.
11:14Okay.
11:15I saw a lot of red faces.
11:16That's a pretty good sign.
11:17To help them with their strain,
11:20pilots wear G-suits,
11:22trousers that contain air bladders
11:24which automatically inflate at high G,
11:26further squeezing the blood vessels
11:28in the legs and abdomen.
11:29The G-suit inflating around the legs
11:33makes it easier to squeeze those muscles against it.
11:35It makes it easier to contract those muscles.
11:38Once you have the good lower body strain
11:40and the greater volume in the chest and the brain,
11:42then you want to increase the chest pressure,
11:45get a good rhythmic breathing cycle going.
11:48That's going to keep the blood pushed up to the brain
11:51and cyclically move it through.
11:53So you go through a cycle of pushing it up,
11:55keep it high pressure in the brain,
11:57drop it back down and recycle.
12:02The moment of truth.
12:05Each pilot has to practice his strain
12:07in this centrifuge.
12:09As it picks up speed,
12:11the gondola on the end of the arm swings out,
12:13turning the pilot on his side.
12:16This directs the G-forces from head to toe,
12:18simulating a high-G turn in an aircraft.
12:22The centrifuge rotates once every two seconds.
12:26For a young pilot, it's quite an ordeal.
12:30They have to walk into the centrifuge,
12:32spin around the tin box.
12:33They've heard all the horror stories
12:34that have been told about it.
12:36So now they get into the centrifuge,
12:37and when they first step in there,
12:39they kind of put their attitudes away a little bit initially.
12:42They're a little bit more timid
12:43and kind of listening a little bit more.
12:45The instructors know how tough it can be.
12:49They've filmed themselves in the centrifuge,
12:52on one occasion recording the full G-lock horror.
13:05Pilots macabrely call these recovery spasms
13:08doing the funky chicken.
13:10Could this be in store for anyone today?
13:16It's make-or-break time for Captain Scott Meyer.
13:20All the way from Pennsylvania,
13:22his ambition is to fly A-10 fighters for the National Guard.
13:26It means he has to get up to 7.5 G.
13:3018 months of training will be wasted if he fails.
13:33First, a warm-up run, without a G-suit,
13:43to establish the level of Gs he can tolerate.
13:47All right, coming up for three Gs.
13:50He starts to strain,
13:52tensing the muscles in his lower body
13:54and breathing in short, sharp bursts.
13:56One, two, three.
13:59Squeeze the butt, squeeze the legs.
14:01Three.
14:02One, two, three.
14:05All right, coming through 5 Gs.
14:06Get more intense, get more intense.
14:08Three.
14:10All right, coming through six.
14:12One, two.
14:14All right, knock it off.
14:15At 6 G, he aborts the run.
14:17I got too tired.
14:18Yeah, you were working pretty hard there.
14:23Started your strain at 3.2,
14:26which can be subjective at best,
14:29but I think it was a little bit early.
14:31That's a rather low tolerance.
14:33You got all the way up to 6.6.
14:35With the Gsuit,
14:36we should be able to get you over the top
14:37for your qualification run.
14:39Whenever you're ready to continue, let us know.
14:42The warm-up over,
14:43it's time for the qualification ride,
14:46this time with the Gsuit.
14:47I want you really to curl those toes
14:50and concentrate on squeezing
14:52every muscle group in the lower body.
14:54All right?
14:56That's going to be the majority of your strain.
14:58Okay?
15:03Let me know when you're ready.
15:05Yeah, Matt.
15:07Can you give me a couple more seconds?
15:09Yeah.
15:11I'm not sure what's wrong with it,
15:13but I think it needs to work out a little more.
15:15All right, give me everything you got for this one, all right?
15:19Full intensity and you can get through this, no problem.
15:23Though his future as a fighter pilot
15:24rests on completing this test,
15:27he can't continue.
15:28He's too tired to fight off the G-forces.
15:31All right, let's give it a shot.
15:35The training officers urge him to continue,
15:37but Captain Meyer has simply run out of steam.
15:40Yeah.
15:41What else do we go to now?
15:43Well, we'll put you in later on this afternoon.
15:45Okay.
15:46Over.
15:50You want to come out?
15:52It's a tent.
15:53I'm too tired.
15:54You don't want to even attempt this one?
15:57I didn't close.
15:58Captain Meyer will have to try again later,
16:02and he's not too happy about it.
16:06Captain, do you want to just ask you how you feel?
16:09For me?
16:09I suppose how you feel.
16:10Higher.
16:11The straining technique is difficult to master.
16:15If a pilot strains too hard, he'll wear himself out.
16:19If he doesn't strain enough, he'll risk a G-lock.
16:22Less volume, spit it out, suck it in.
16:29One, two, three.
16:32Take AXE intensity of your strand.
16:34Captain David Thompson is also having trouble in the centrifuge.
16:38He, too, must get to 7.5 G.
16:41Two, one, two, three.
16:45Come through seven and a half.
16:46Get in ten.
16:47Squeeze the muscles.
16:48Get the muscles tight.
16:49You're almost there.
16:50Because high G-forces exert so much pressure,
16:55pilots have to be extremely fit just to be able to strain their bodies.
16:59We can look at a fighter pilot as an aerospace athlete.
17:03They have to work in hot environments,
17:06cockpits that could get up to 130 degrees plus.
17:09They have to be able to pull Gs, be able to strain,
17:13to be able to keep the blood up to their brain and be able to function,
17:15and they have to be able to do it day in and day out.
17:18Simply being a fighter pilot is certainly an athletic event.
17:22And like any other athletic event, it requires adequate training.
17:30Next into the centrifuge is Lieutenant Jennifer Wilson.
17:33She's training to be an F-16 pilot.
17:36That means she must get to 9G.
17:38Can she do any better than the men?
17:55Is there such a thing as the perfect human body for resisting G?
18:00It's a question exercising aviation scientists in America and beyond.
18:07Fitness certainly makes a difference, though not just any fitness.
18:12Aerobic exercise such as running, which lowers blood pressure and widens arteries,
18:17can actually reduce a pilot's G tolerance.
18:20It is anaerobic exercise, pumping iron, that helps protect pilots.
18:28When you're in the jet and you pull 9Gs for that time period,
18:31whether it's 5, 10, 15 seconds,
18:34if you weigh 150 pounds, you will be weighing 1,350 pounds.
18:39So it's nine times your weight,
18:41so certainly that's going to be quite a bit of stress,
18:43physical stress, and the anti-gestraining maneuver
18:48is a very fatiguing thing as well.
18:51We're asking the pilots to strain almost every muscle in their body.
18:54And certainly if they're in condition,
18:55that will be a little bit easier for them to do.
18:58Okay, your first drive is a gradual.
19:00Whenever you're ready, just let me know.
19:01Back in the centrifuge, it's Lieutenant Jennifer Wilson's turn.
19:05Yeah, back to me.
19:05She's one of the new generation of female fighter pilots.
19:09Only since 1993 have women been allowed to fly fighter aircraft.
19:15The arrival of the likes of Lieutenant Wilson
19:18raised a new problem for the G-force scientists.
19:22We know that high G tolerance,
19:26the ability to maintain G tolerance at high G,
19:29can be a strength issue.
19:31And we know that women are basically half as strong as men.
19:35So the concern was, whether at high G, such as at 9G,
19:39would the women be able to perform as well as the men?
19:43Okay, man, next ride, 9Gs, 15 seconds.
19:45Okay, no backing off, no on this ride.
19:48To fly the F-16,
19:49Jennifer Wilson has to do a 9G run in the centrifuge.
19:53That's right, keep chest full aware, get on, pull back.
19:55She must go higher than Captains Meyer and Thompson.
19:58Breathe, breathe, one, two, three.
20:02Squeeze the muscles, work the muscles.
20:06One, two, three.
20:10About halfway through, don't give up.
20:13One, two, three.
20:16Knock it off, knock it off.
20:17Release the stick, keep straight in, keep straight in.
20:20And relax, relax, relax.
20:22Lieutenant Wilson passes the test first time.
20:26It kind of feels like you're underwater,
20:28kind of drowning,
20:29feeling like you really need to get some air.
20:30And as far as the pressure,
20:34I don't really know anything in the world to describe that feeling.
20:40Kind of like a roller coaster at the bottom
20:42when you feel the pressure against you,
20:43but about nine times worse.
20:48Clearly less muscular than the male pilots,
20:51why is she able to do better?
20:52There's this typical type person
20:56that would be expected to have a high G-tolerance,
20:58and that would be someone who's very short
21:00because the distance between the heart and the eye
21:03or heart and the brain would be very short,
21:05and that would mean less distance
21:07that the heart would have to pump blood to the brain
21:08to keep the person conscious.
21:14American scientists have researched
21:16the relationship between G-tolerance and size.
21:20Some people might think that because women are generally less strong
21:23or have less strength than men,
21:25they may not be able to tolerate G as well.
21:27But we found here in our research
21:28that they do tolerate G well,
21:30and it's probably because they have a very short heart-to-brain distance,
21:33which means their heart has to pump a shorter distance
21:36to keep the brain profused during G.
21:38So while they may be less strong,
21:41they have an anatomical difference
21:44that makes them more favorable to G.
21:47This gentleman here is an ideal body type.
21:51He's short again.
21:53He's 5'5'' tall,
21:54which means he has a relatively short heart-to-brain distance,
21:57and yet he's very muscular as well.
22:00So he will be able to tolerate
22:01or be able to perform the anthology stream maneuver very well.
22:04So he should be able to tolerate G very well.
22:06This gentleman here is about 6' tall,
22:09and he would therefore have a larger heart-to-brain distance,
22:13which may give him some difficulty.
22:14But because he's also a strong individual,
22:16he probably could do a good strain maneuver
22:18and tolerate G very well.
22:20As you get taller than 6' tall,
22:23especially if you're not physically trained,
22:25you would anticipate those people
22:26not having as good G tolerance as shorter people.
22:31You have a positive attitude now for this one.
22:33You can do this, all right?
22:34It's Captain Meyer's second and last chance.
22:39If he fails to complete his run this time,
22:41his future as a fighter pilot hangs in the balance.
22:44Okay, the system's running.
22:46Three, legs tight.
22:47Deep chest full of air, get out and pull back.
22:50Hold it, hold it, hold it.
22:51Down top.
22:52One, two, three.
22:56Get the legs in there.
22:57Squeeze the legs.
22:58Squeeze the body, work the muscles.
22:59One, three seconds.
23:01Three seconds on the air exchange.
23:04One, two, three.
23:06Knock it off.
23:07Knock it off.
23:07Release the stick.
23:08Release the stick.
23:10He's done it.
23:12Captain Meyer put his strength to good use.
23:14He didn't overstrain, giving him enough energy to last the distance.
23:19You're beat, man.
23:20Good job.
23:25Everything that they had taught me worked.
23:28They told me to slow down my breathing a little bit.
23:32They told me to not strain and contract my muscles as quickly and as much as forcefully.
23:39I did what they said, and it was fine.
23:41I wasn't even close to as tired as I was after the first one.
23:44You ready to go, sir?
23:45Ready to do this?
23:47I'm ready.
23:47All right.
23:48Seven and a half Gs for 15 seconds coming up.
23:52It's Captain Thompson's second run.
23:53System is running.
23:55Legs, breath.
23:56Pull back.
23:56Hold your breath.
23:58You're on top.
23:58Breathe.
23:59Spit it out.
23:59Suck it back in.
24:00Muscles tight.
24:01Work the muscle.
24:02Breathe.
24:03One, two, three.
24:05Spit it out.
24:05Suck it back.
24:06You're looking good here.
24:06Stay with it.
24:07Breathe.
24:08One, two, three.
24:10Work the abs and the butt.
24:11Make sure you get that in there.
24:12Breathe.
24:13Knock it off.
24:13Knock it off.
24:14Strain on the way down.
24:15Strain, strain, strain.
24:16And you can relax, sir.
24:18You can relax.
24:22All right, sir.
24:23Good job.
24:24All right.
24:24All right.
24:26All right.
24:29Well, they don't tell you that in the recruiting.
24:32Video.
24:35It wasn't as bad as before, though.
24:37I wasn't going to lose.
24:39I knew I see the pass or fail.
24:43Fail is not an option.
24:50Any would-be fighter pilot in the US Air Force has to pass a medical.
24:54It's like a reverse flow through the valve.
24:56But perhaps surprisingly, they are only checked for heart and eye abnormalities.
25:02Even though they are about to embark on many months of expensive training,
25:06when they first join up, there is no test to see how well they can tolerate G-forces.
25:11But in Germany, there is.
25:18It's part of a very different approach to G-protection.
25:25After German reunification, the Luftwaffe inherited bases and equipment from the old East Germany,
25:32including a squadron of high-performance MiG-29 fighters.
25:36When they debriefed the East German pilots that flew them,
25:44they discovered that Soviet bloc scientists believed G-lock could be eradicated
25:48through rigorous selection of pilots and physical exercise.
25:51The aim was to produce a class of super pilots with very high G-tolerances.
26:01The East believed that better preparation created the better pilot.
26:06They did thorough programs.
26:09They had a structured approach toward that.
26:11They had the equipment, they had sports teachers,
26:13and they had extensive tests which were to be passed by each pilot yearly, as far as I know.
26:23And that's a major difference.
26:28The Eastern Bloc's first step was to screen potential pilots for G-tolerance
26:33before allowing them anywhere near an aircraft,
26:36a practice which has now been adopted by the Luftwaffe,
26:39the only NATO air force which does it.
26:42If any of these 18-year-old applicants can't resist naturally a level of 3.5 G,
26:49they won't be recommended as future fighter pilots.
26:53That's what happened to this young man.
26:55He just couldn't make the grade.
27:20He had no future as a fighter pilot.
27:26First into the centrifuge of today's class is 18-year-old Jan Hendrik Meyer.
27:32Without being given a G-suit or taught how to strain,
27:35he is locked into the centrifuge.
27:37Jan Hendrik has to press a button every time he sees these flashing lights
27:46either side of him in the centrifuge.
27:50The screening officers are looking for the point when he no longer responds,
27:54which means he has lost his peripheral vision, the first stage of G-lock.
27:58The G-load at this point is calculated as his natural G-tolerance.
28:04The run starts.
28:11Nurses are present in case anything goes wrong.
28:14As he goes through 3G, he's suffering no ill effects.
28:30By 4.5 though, it's getting visibly harder.
28:34And as he goes through 5G, he almost G-locks.
28:38But he's done well.
28:46His natural tolerance is 5.2 G,
28:50good enough to be a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe.
28:56Pilots training is a very expensive training within the forces.
29:02So you want to select the candidate who is most likely
29:06to fulfill all criteria
29:08and to successfully finish his education, if you want so.
29:16If you sort out these candidates
29:18who are unforeseeable for any physician before
29:24have a poor performance in terms of low natural G-tolerance,
29:31you're doing a favor towards the candidates
29:33and the German Luftwaffe as well.
29:36The Luftwaffe pilots also inherited Eastern Bloc gym training.
29:43This was a do-it-yourself centrifuge.
29:46The theory was that building up muscular strength
29:49and stamina on such equipment
29:50would make pilots more resistant to G-forces.
29:54The Russians have even claimed they've never had a G-lock
29:57and their pilots can withstand high G-forces
30:00without any protective equipment at all.
30:03I don't believe that the average Eastern pilot was the better pilot
30:09in comparison to his Western comrade,
30:13but he was the better prepared one in physical terms, maybe.
30:21Five, four, three...
30:23The Americans don't believe the Russian claim to have eliminated G-lock,
30:29but they're not averse to borrowing their techniques.
30:31This Soviet-designed machine enables the pilot to build up very strong leg muscles
30:38by pressing down on the foot pedals, which become harder and harder to push against.
30:46In the battle against G-lock, the Americans will now try anything.
30:49Traditionally in our country, we've looked at more high-tech ways
30:55to arrive at solutions to problems,
30:58and for the past 15 years, we've been developing this advanced technology
31:02anti-G equipment ensembles,
31:04and we've probably focused much less than the Russian programs have on the pilot themselves.
31:09As the Americans pursue ever more advanced ways to protect their pilots,
31:16the question is, just how much pressure can the human body withstand?
31:20At research bases across America, scientists are competing to devise new techniques
31:39in the race to protect pilots against G.
31:43One group is concentrating on the protective clothing worn in the aircraft.
31:48This is what they've come up with.
31:50A combat edge.
31:52It consists of a high-pressure oxygen mask
31:54and a second G-suit, which the pilot wears round his chest.
32:01When the aircraft goes into a tight turn,
32:03oxygen is pumped through the mask into the pilot's lungs.
32:08At the same time, a vest inflates around his chest.
32:13This creates an external force to strain his upper body against,
32:16making it easier to push blood from the heart to the head.
32:20A pilot will come into a combat maneuver, pull high G's, handle that just fine, but it takes energy out of them.
32:29It's an exhausting process.
32:30And so what we're trying to do is provide them the kind of pressure suits that reduce the strain that the pilot has to go through so that he can then pull G's again and again several times.
32:43And you notice I said he, that's a slip on my part, I should have said he or she, because the Air Force is beginning to introduce women into combat missions as well.
32:54This could be next, three-dimensional scanning from the world of fashion, the designer G-suit.
33:03By superimposing an image of the suit over the pilot's body, it's possible to calculate an inch-perfect fit.
33:09It's possible to calculate an inch-perfect fit.
33:12We females tend to be shorter than men, so our torso, torsos are smaller than men.
33:20And this ladder, when it inflates on these women who are shorter, will actually inflate up against the diaphragm and start causing problems with breathing.
33:32If we were to develop a G-suit that could actually be tailored for the individual, not necessarily for a female or for a male.
33:42It would actually improve our tolerance to G and, in essence, improve our mission effectiveness.
33:51This technology will be perfected soon, giving every pilot his own custom-built G-suit.
34:01That could be just as well.
34:03Research underway here at Brooks Air Base in Texas could open the door for a new generation of more agile aircraft.
34:12Equipped with the new Combat Edge G-suit, Lieutenant Boyd Hogan is about to take his body to new extremes.
34:19Twelve times the force of gravity.
34:22A full 3G higher than any current fighter aircraft can pull.
34:27Just a week before, Lieutenant Hogan had made his first attempt at a 12G run.
34:33This was the result.
34:36Deep breath! Get on your ground up! Hold it! Hold it! On top! Freeze! Freeze!
34:41One! Two! Three! Try to hold it for three seconds!
34:46Coming down!
34:48Hold it!
34:55Last time, doing 12Gs in the upright seat, and I was tired, and my vision toned in on me.
35:02And I couldn't bring it back out. And it's almost like you're dreaming.
35:09And you wake up, and you're like, wow, where am I? And then they laughed at you.
35:14Today, he's determined to get the last laugh.
35:17Okay, you've got your mask up. This is going to be 12Gs. Wrap it on set. Strain as needed. This is going to be your last ride.
35:26Okay.
35:27Data station. Is ready. Operator.
35:29Is ready.
35:30Is ready. Medical.
35:31Ready. Is ready. Finally ready.
35:35Break has been activated. Three, two, one. Pressure.
35:38Deep breath. Get on it. You're going up. On top.
35:43In just two seconds, Lieutenant Hogan is spinning at 12G.
35:51Coming down.
35:52Coming down.
35:53And this time, he's lasted the distance with apparent ease.
36:01He couldn't have done it without his combat edge suit.
36:05Feels like a ton of bricks just fell upon you.
36:09And you can't move anything.
36:12It's a very incredible feeling.
36:15All that weight is on your chest. It's hard to breathe.
36:19This G-suit here, though, makes it a lot easier to breathe.
36:22What we learned from the 12G study is that the equipment, first of all, is very good and very protective.
36:30It also lets us know that with a good, straining maneuver to supplement the equipment,
36:35that the human can really tolerate much more than we're exposed to now in combat operations.
36:41This groundbreaking research could offer new possibilities for the aircraft designers.
36:46Since a critical factor in air combat is turning radius, then going to 12G permits that turning radius to decrease.
36:57You can turn inside of the opponent.
36:59With that ability to turn inside of the opponent, there's a greater chance that you will kill him before he kills you.
37:06But G-suits will not be enough, which is why some scientists are developing systems that will bypass pilots altogether.
37:15In California, the Americans are testing a new device that could produce the first uncrashable plane.
37:26It's called the ground collision avoidance system.
37:30Two arrows are about to appear on the pilot's screen.
37:33If they meet, it means the aircraft's computer believes a crash is imminent.
37:39Fire, fire.
37:43If the pilot does not respond, the computer takes control.
37:47The system is projecting where we're going, and when you get within 15 seconds of a ground impact, a warning would come up.
37:53Of course, the pilot is unconscious, so he wouldn't see the warning.
37:56Fire, fire.
37:57Fire, fire.
37:59The flight control system would then roll the aircraft level and pull it away from the terrain feature.
38:06You're flying at low altitude, 500 feet, and you're skimming the terrain.
38:12You can see what can happen as far as for if you are unconscious for 30 seconds or incapacitated for up to a minute.
38:18So with the ground collision avoidance systems and the systems that could take over the aircraft in case the pilot is incapacitated
38:25and fly it safely away from the ground, I think that that would be a great help to help prevent catastrophes resulting from G-LOC.
38:32We've done safety studies, and of all those cases where we've lost aircraft in this situation, the system could have protected it.
38:40But many pilots are not happy to give up control of their plane to a computer.
38:45There are times when, in the heat of combat, when people are shooting at you,
38:50when your one and only thought is to get as close to the ground as you can to avoid missiles or gunfire or to try to avoid the enemy radar detection.
38:59And if I had a system that would attempt to fly me up out of that, out of that maneuver, more than likely I'm going to get shot.
39:07So no, I wouldn't like that at all.
39:08There may be an answer to the pilot's fears of being unnecessarily overridden.
39:16This system could provide a fail-safe way of alerting the plane's computers that the pilot has genuinely G-LOC.
39:23A series of electrodes is placed on the pilot's head.
39:26When hooked up, they'll be able to monitor his EEG, or brainwaves.
39:30When a subject is on the centrifuge and EEG is being monitored, typically as he approaches loss of vision or loss of consciousness,
39:40there is usually a change in the frequencies or the frequency bands of EEG,
39:45going from the higher frequencies down to the lower frequencies or delta frequencies.
39:49If successful, this could be the first time a system has been developed that can accurately predict G-LOC.
39:56Deep breath, get on to go on the nine. On top, three. One, two, three, four.
40:02Today, the equipment is being tested by Captain Poole.
40:05His brainwaves are monitored on these screens.
40:08At 9G, he almost blacks out.
40:13Are you with me?
40:15Okay.
40:17But did the equipment sense the captain's G-LOC?
40:20I was monitoring the EEG activity continuously, and I believe that I saw a sharp downward down.
40:26I saw a reflection in one of the channels, and then looked down at the subject and saw that his eyes looked glazed over,
40:31and that's when we thought that we had G-LOC.
40:33And that was the only indication that we saw, but it was a rather abrupt indication that something had transpired.
40:39We can envision that at a high-altitude, air-to-air combat scenario, either in peacetime or during wartime,
40:47that if G-LOC was detected, either by EEG or by other means, that that detection system would then initiate some sort of auto-recovery system of the aircraft,
40:59and thereby preventing the airplane from mishap or by taking control of that airplane and flying it out of harm.
41:06Even with automated recovery systems and devices that can predict G-LOC, one thing will remain the same.
41:15A pilot sitting upright in the aircraft will be vulnerable at high Gs.
41:20A whole range of theoretical solutions are now being dreamt up to change that, and with it, the entire flying perspective.
41:28The first step is borrowed from the space program.
41:34If an astronaut was sitting upright during launch, the G-forces driving down from his head to legs would make him G-LOC almost instantly,
41:43so he lies on his back.
41:45The same principle could be applied to a fighter pilot, but if he's lying down, he won't be able to see out.
41:51The futuristic answer is to fly in a blind cockpit with information from the outside world relayed to the pilots by computers that can even talk.
42:06What's my weapon configuration?
42:09Five, seven, eight rounds, two Sidewinders, four Amrams, two Snake Eyes, two Mavericks.
42:15Give me a weapon recommendation.
42:19Recommend Amrams.
42:21What's my fuel?
42:22Could this be a taste of the future?
42:25Siren-voiced computers advising pilots what to do.
42:30It gets more outlandish.
42:33Planes controlled by thought.
42:36This pilot is flying in a simulator, but he's not using his hands.
42:40His commands are transmitted through the band around his head.
42:43By varying the intensity of his brain waves, he can direct the plane left and right, or up and down.
42:51But in practical combat terms, these ideas are still a pipe dream.
42:56And whatever they may come up with, one thing is still certain.
43:00It's the human body putting the limits on the power and agility of fighter aircraft.
43:04We are rapidly approaching the point where human physiology, the ability of a person to withstand the stresses of highly maneuverable aircraft is becoming the limiting factor in the maneuverability of an airplane.
43:23The human body has its limits.
43:30We like to think that the human being doesn't limit the aircraft.
43:34The human being actually enables the aircraft.
43:36However, because we're a biologic system, we've got to take care of that biologic system in the aircraft.
43:41We will get to a stage, if we continue to increase G, where the human being can simply not tolerate the G.
43:51So what will be the next step in the evolving relationship between man and flying machine?
44:02Once long ago, the Wright brothers sat exposed to the elements, fully in control of their aircraft.
44:08By the 1930s, enclosed cockpits had removed the pilot from direct contact with the world around him.
44:17Then hydraulic controls took away much of the sensation of flying.
44:24Computers have brought planes capable of flying themselves.
44:28And now, with the spectre of G-Lock, the future could be planes without pilots at all.
44:34Once we remove the pilot, there's no problem in going to 20 G.
44:40And certainly the materials will stand it.
44:42We know how to design structures that will stand it.
44:45The aerodynamics will certainly generate it for high velocity airplanes.
44:49So I think once we remove the pilot, the sky's the limit.
44:55In the reconnaissance field, the US Air Force has already got rid of the pilot.
44:59This is the latest model, a spy plane called Global Hawk, due to make its first flight later this year.
45:09The pilotless fighter jet will not be far behind.
45:12First of all, it would look like an airplane, but not like one you'd ever seen before.
45:23Have a much thinner profile, for example, because it would have no cockpit for the pilot.
45:28In maneuvering, it would appear to suddenly stop and move in another direction, perhaps 90 degrees away.
45:38I mean, we just haven't seen airplanes that will have the accelerating capability of this sort.
45:44These are some of the first published designs from America's top aircraft manufacturers, who are already designing unmanned combat planes for the 21st century.
45:59Smaller and more agile, they'll have turning circles half that of the F-16.
46:05Their strange shapes will make them virtually undetectable by enemy radar.
46:10The first priority, I believe, in developing unmanned combat air vehicles will be to look at aircraft for suppression of enemy air defense.
46:24In the rather longer term, one can even imagine aircraft that seek out and destroy high-priority mobile weapons, such as scud launchers.
46:34And even further beyond that, one can imagine aircraft that engage in air-to-air combat.
46:49And what future for the fighter pilot?
46:53The next generation will find themselves destined for desk jobs.
46:58Top guns need not apply.
47:00Well, I would imagine the pilot to be more of a mission manager, actually, than a pilot.
47:07Most of the aerodynamic problems of the airplane, or the piloting problems, will be solved by automation.
47:15If one considers where the pilots are going to sit, you find that once the airplane is over the horizon,
47:22and you're forced to go to long-haul communications such as satellites, it then matters no longer whether the pilot is 100 miles away or 3,000 miles away.
47:34So I think we could fly airplanes in some part of the world, say halfway around the world from the United States, with mission managers who are located within the United States.
47:50Building a new generation of unmanned aircraft is one thing.
47:54Persuading pilots to operate them could be quite another.
47:57The fighter pilot and me will always want to be in the aircraft and experience the challenge of flying a tactical aircraft.
48:05And I do recognize that perhaps we can build airframes and remove the pilot from them so that the limiting factor isn't the pilot itself.
48:13But I will never tell you that I'd much rather sit on the ground and fly by remote an aircraft rather than being in the aircraft itself and experiencing it firsthand,
48:22and making those human decisions that need to be made.
48:25In the heat of battle, you have to be able to look outside your cockpit and you have to be able to see what's going on and make decisions.
48:30You can't do that sitting on the ground in a little radio-controlled cockpit.
48:37Without humans on the battlefield, who or what will make that final decision to launch weapons?
48:44I think we could build, even today, an artificial intelligence system that could decide on the basis of some rules that we give it whether or not to launch a weapon.
48:58I think that we could conduct a large fraction of a war by simply typing in coordinates of targets and allowing the machines to fly to them, bomb them, or whatever.
49:07I personally believe that that will be totally unacceptable to the American people.
49:13At least I hope it will be.
49:15It is a difficult question and actually a matter of policy as to whether limits ought to be imposed or not on what remotely piloted vehicles ultimately should be allowed to do.
49:28My personal view is that we should be very cautious about entrusting to a computer the authority to decide whether it will take human life or not.
49:46Removing the pilot from the cockpit will finally eliminate the threat of G-lock.
49:50But it could open up a whole new set of concerns for the next generation's armchair warriors.
49:59For the fighter aces, modern icons of human strength and daring, it is a bitter irony indeed that they should be declared the weak link in the race for supremacy of the skies.
50:10An ambitious detective tries to give Simone the runaround and Fancy has a run-in with an overzealous traffic cop.
50:33NYPD Blue is next.
50:34NYPD Blue is next.
50:35NYPD Blue is next.
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