914Driver
914Driver MegaDork
4/17/15 9:10 a.m.

Watch the pilot brace for the G force.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4D0yx4DvBk

Basil Exposition
Basil Exposition Dork
4/17/15 9:15 a.m.

My job sux.

Mezzanine
Mezzanine Reader
4/17/15 10:19 a.m.

Looks like all the footage in that video is over Lake Washington for the Seattle Seafair event.

Really remarkable how much it looks like the pilot has to physically work through some of the maneuvers.

Cool video!

Basil Exposition
Basil Exposition Dork
4/17/15 10:29 a.m.

"When executing a "positive G" maneuver like turning upwards the force pushes the pilot down. The most serious consequence of this is that the blood in the pilot's body is also pulled down and into their extremities. If the forces are great enough and over a sufficient period of time this can lead to blackouts (called g-induced Loss Of Consciousness or G-LOC), because not enough blood is reaching the pilot's brain. To counteract this effect pilots are trained to tense their legs and abdominal muscles to restrict the "downward" flow of blood. This is known as the "grunt" or the "Hick maneuver", both names allude to the sounds the pilot makes, and is the primary method of resisting G-LOCs. Modern flight suits, called g-suits, are worn by pilots to contract around the extremities exerting pressure, providing about 1G of extra tolerance."

914Driver
914Driver MegaDork
4/17/15 10:33 a.m.
Mezzanine wrote: Cool video!

Trying to make up for that stupid pitch fork image ....

aircooled
aircooled MegaDork
4/17/15 11:05 a.m.

This is one of the better flight demonstration team videos I know of (in this case the Thunderbirds):

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/9p7eto/operation-iraqi-stephen---fallback-position---air-force-thunderbirds

Good stuff, I love what he does right before the flight.

RX Reven'
RX Reven' Dork
4/17/15 11:44 a.m.

I read an article in Yahoo Finance yesterday indicating that the F-35 Lightning is almost certainly the last manned fighter aircraft the Navy or Marines will ever fly.

I think their operational life is ~45 years but given how insanely expensive they are to maintain, I imagine they’ll be mothballed once we have drones that are demonstrated to be totally superior.

Anyway, it’s possible that a child born today may stand zero chance of ever being a Blue Angle.

aircooled
aircooled MegaDork
4/17/15 12:13 p.m.

There will likely still be Blue Angels. The physical requirements will likely be different though:

https://youtu.be/6lCUGPixEnk?t=33s

Drones are certainly capable of some pretty extreme flight demonstrations.

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
4/17/15 1:43 p.m.

They put 50lbs of down trim on the elevators to tighten up any slack in the system. When you fly 2-3 feet from one another, you want crispness.

Cone_Junkie
Cone_Junkie SuperDork
4/17/15 2:03 p.m.

That's a bunch of guys that LOVE their jobs! Lots of smiles.

I've been watching them perform locally at MCAS Miramar for decades. I'm still in awe every time I watch them live.

Box_of_Rocks
Box_of_Rocks New Reader
4/17/15 2:22 p.m.
Basil Exposition wrote: "When executing a "positive G" maneuver like turning upwards the force pushes the pilot down. The most serious consequence of this is that the blood in the pilot's body is also pulled down and into their extremities. If the forces are great enough and over a sufficient period of time this can lead to blackouts (called g-induced Loss Of Consciousness or G-LOC), because not enough blood is reaching the pilot's brain. To counteract this effect pilots are trained to tense their legs and abdominal muscles to restrict the "downward" flow of blood. This is known as the "grunt" or the "Hick maneuver", both names allude to the sounds the pilot makes, and is the primary method of resisting G-LOCs. Modern flight suits, called g-suits, are worn by pilots to contract around the extremities exerting pressure, providing about 1G of extra tolerance."

Not quite in the same league as the Blue Angels, but when we rode bobsleds, they taught us to do something similar because towards the end of the run you're experiencing up to 5Gs.

bgkast
bgkast UltraDork
4/17/15 2:36 p.m.

Wow, Super impressive!

Teh E36 M3
Teh E36 M3 SuperDork
4/17/15 5:41 p.m.
Cone_Junkie wrote: That's a bunch of guys that LOVE themselves! Lots of smiles. I've been watching them perform locally at MCAS Miramar for decades. I'm still in awe every time I watch them live.

Fixed that one. Ha ha. Jealousy.

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