Fighting The G-Force

Record ID: 116864
  • Title: Fighting The G-Force
  • Date: 22nd September 1997
  • Summary: Over the past decade,an estimated 20 US fighter pilots have been killed in combat because of their inability to cope with increasing levels of G-force. This documentary reveals the growing realisation in the US AIr Force that fighter technology has outstripped the endurance of the human body and the dilemma this has caused: whether to try and train pilots to withstand even greater G-Forces,or to dispense with the pilot altogether. The pilot of the future may be controlling the jet through use of voice control and virtual reality,or in front of a computer screen on the ground. The programme reveals the unique 12 G research test at Brooks Air Base in San Antonio,Texas,designed to find the absolute limits of the human body.
  • Description:EQUINOX: GLOC: G-Force to Oblivion - The story of the scientific battle to prepare the world's fighter pilots for G-force loss of consciousness. Is fighter jet technology advancing too fast.... advancing beyond the biological ability of pilots to cope? Modern pilots need to be able to withstand phenomenal levels of G-Force. At 3 or 4 G most of us would begin to pass out as insufficient blood reaches the brain. The film follows new pilots in the USA, Germany and Russia as they learn to cope with ever higher levels of G Force on the powerful training centrifuges, as high even as pulling 9G. This programme will, for the first time, follows research teams and test pilots as they prepare for the next generation of super jets. It will ask how the human pilot can keep pace with the ever increasing demands of the latest technology. Is fighter jet technology advancing too fast...advancing beyond the biological ability of pilots to cope? Modern pilots need to be able to withstand phenomenal levels of G-Force. At 3 or 4 G most of us would begin to pass out as insufficient blood reaches the brain. Pilots on the new Eurofighter plane will have to be able to withstand a staggering 12 G. The film follows a group of trainee pilots into centrifuges and flight simulators and experiences their anguish at having to overcome what are normal human limits. But ultimately, all this money and training may prove useless - the Eurofighter could well turn out to be a colossal white elephant that will never fly.
  • Broadcaster:Channel 4
  • Collection: Channel 4
  • Genre:Documentary and Factual
  • Producer:3BM Television LTD
  • Programme Episode:Episode 1
  • Transmission Date:22/09/1997
  • Rights:On Request
  • Decade: 1990s
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