Visiting the Air National Guard
183rd Fighter Squadron, 6-12-2000
Springfield, IL.

Sgt. Maliongas explains how 'G' forces work.

When a pilot turns his plane he is pushed into the seat very hard.  His weight increases a tremendous amount.  When he is at one "G" he feels the same as we do when we are standing here.  If he weighs 150lbs, when a one 'G' force is applied he still weighs 150lbs.  G forces are the forces of gravity.  When the pilot makes an easy turn, say a two G turn, his weight increases from 150lbs to 300lbs.  These planes have the capability of turning very hard, up to 9 G's.  At 9 G's a 150lb pilot would weigh 1350lbs.  The blood in his head all tries to go to his feet.  He at first starts to get tunnel vision then he passes out.  To prevent this the pilot wears a G-Suit.  When the plane makes a turn over two G's the G-suit starts to inflate with air squeezing his legs and abdomen squeezing the blood back to his head. 

The G-Suit is worn over the flight suit.  It is made of air bladders that are controlled by a computer in the F-16 Falcon.  The G-Suit fits over the pilots legs and over his abdomen.  This is an essential part of the pilots life support equipment, if he didn't have one, he would die.

Another part of Sgt. Maliongas' talk was about the ejection seat.  He explained the difference between the old seats and the new ones.  The ejection seat protects the pilot when he leaves the aircraft in an emergency.  In the bottom of the seat is a rocket motor.  When the pilot pulls the ejection handle the rocket motor fires and shoots the pilot out of the airplane very quickly. 

The ejection seat also carries life support equipment for the pilot, namely a parachute.  It also protects the pilot against the high speed air blast when the pilot leaves his airplane.