COMBAT AIR MANEUVERS HOW TO
COMBAT AIR MANEUVERS MOVIE
COMBAT AIR MANEUVERS SERIES

Naval aviators get centrifuge testing at Brooks City Base in San Antonio, Texas. If an Air Force student aviator is assigned to F-15s, F-16s, F-22s or F-35s, they go back to Wright-Patterson AFB for more centrifuge training qualification.

Jet aviators must be able to sustain sudden changes in pressure and altitude at speeds approaching or exceeding the speed of sound and gravitational forces up to nine times the normal pull (9Gs). The centrifuge can produce up to nine Gs, or nine times the normal force of gravity, to measure the student's ability to counteract the effects of G-forces to prevent GLOC. Before pilots can train in that aircraft they go to AFRL in Dayton for tests of exposure to severe G-forces at the only DOD human-rated centrifuge. The next step is the T-38 trainer for fighter aircraft. In the Air Force, undergraduate pilots begin flight training on the T-6 single prop airplane - so they can experience moderate G-forces. Joe Pick, 1st Combat Camera Squadron, exits the centrifuge at the 711th Human Performance Wing, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, April 5, 2021. Pressure suits also have a 'tactile function' as they start to inflate, Welsh explained. These are worn on the lower limbs and the abdomen. Pressure suits are another way for aviators to reduce the amount of blood going into their extremities under G-forces.

'Then pilots have to get that air right back in and block it back off in the lungs so that we can get pressure back because, if they don't, they can lose consciousness.' In the respiratory component, 'air exchanges briefly drop pressure around the heart to allow for that blood flow to continue properly, he said. 'We want pilots to do a very calm breath hold because that allows them to control their air and their chest pressure much better,' said Sauls. Stuart Sauls, who is the acceleration training branch chief in the Air Force Research Laboratory Air Force Research Laboratory 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. The Air Force also teaches a respiratory component, which means 'every three seconds, we're going to do a rapid half-second exchange of air where we want to move the equal amount of air out and right back in,' explained Air Force Maj. The term alludes to the sounds the pilot makes while saying the word Hick as they breathe in and out. In the Navy, aviators are taught the Hick maneuver.

COMBAT AIR MANEUVERS SERIES

To combat GLOC, military aviators learn the anti-G straining maneuver, which is a series of isometric abdominal and leg muscle contractions that help to keep blood flowing up toward the heart and brain and not downward.Īviators are also taught breathing techniques that are a primary method of resisting GLOC. Timothy Welsh, who is the director of the Aviation Survival Training Center, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, part of the Naval Survival Training Institute Naval Survival Training Institute. After about five seconds, you're lights out,' said Navy Cmdr. 'That's when the blood leaves your brain.

COMBAT AIR MANEUVERS HOW TO

Next, these aviators learn how to avoid or overcome what is called G-induced loss of consciousness, also known as GLOC. Military aviators first learn the basics of the flight physiology and its impact on the human cardiovascular system during the lecture portion of their training with aerospace physiology personnel. Those G-forces affect all aviators to some degree, whether they fly fixed wings, jets, turboprop aircraft or helicopters. If you've ever been on a rollercoaster, you've felt a minimal amount of the G-forces and the effects the acceleration that aviators experience.įor military aviators, their training requires that they learn how to deal with sometimes severe G-forces and negative G-forces that change rapidly, especially in combat operations. But mishap prevention and survival, and enhancing and sustaining performance all play a role.

COMBAT AIR MANEUVERS MOVIE

This summer's blockbuster movie showcases some amazing feats by military aviators, pushing the envelope beyond 10 Gs and incredible combat maneuvers.īut, initial military aviation training focuses not just on the Gs, but learning to control an aircraft, while also understanding the physiology of acceleration forces on the body.īeing able to maneuver an aircraft while withstanding high levels of gravitational forces, or G-forces, is a key component to training for combat aviation. Health Readiness & Combat Support | Education & Training | Physical Fitness

Combat air maneuvers