What happens to pilots at high gravitational forces?
Find out how it feels to be put through high G-force centrifuge training with Poland’s first female fighter pilot, Lt Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz.
Synopsis
For fighter pilots to maintain their composure during aerial combat, they must undergo training at high gravitational forces (G-forces). Aggressive manoeuvres at high speed drain the blood from a pilot’s head with centrifugal force – so while they’re tracking their target and flying the aircraft, they’re clinging to consciousness.
Poland’s first female fighter pilot, Lt Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz, undergoes high G-force centrifuge training at a specialist facility in Poland.
Footage includes Lt Tomiak-Siemieniewicz inside a high G-force centrifuge, and an interview about changes she feels at various levels of G-force.
Transcript
TEXT ON SCREEN
WHEN JETS ACCELERATE TO HIGH SPEEDS
PILOTS EXPERIENCE MASSIVE GRAVITATIONAL (G) FORCES ON THEIR BODIES
ON SCREEN GRAPHIC
Lt Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz
Fighter pilot, Polish Air Force
—SOUNDBITE—(POLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES) Lt. Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz
“I’m Lt Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz and today I will be training at high Gs.
At 1 G a pilot doesn’t feel anything alarming. Nothing too bad is happening to them.
By 4 Gs you could compare it to a rollercoaster.
At 6 Gs you have to put much more energy into piloting and it’s a real effort to lift your hands and use the controls.
At 7 Gs sometimes your field of view becomes narrower.
Your body feels very heavy and of course you feel tired.
In extreme situations at high G-forces, a pilot can pass out.
Training like this is important for us pilots.
Thanks to it we are the best at what we do and we strengthen NATO.”
Shots of high G-force centrifuge training machine in motion getting faster
Shots from monitoring camera inside high G-force centrifuge training machine of Lt Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz experiencing various levels of G-force.
