How indicative of agility are max G numbers?

Mark Irvine wrote:

mmm, not so sure, the physiology of the human body is such that the brain
needs that blood! While modern G suits help to limit the surge of blood to
the feet they cannot totally stop it. Also the human head head weighs
around 4 - 5 kg. At 9 G the effective weight is 36 - 45 kg. That does not
take into account the additional weight of the helmet. That is some load
through the neck, come to think of it is is like 1/2 of me being on my own
head with no support, ouch...

I still think that the human is the limiting factor.

Mark

Snip......

Interestingly, the Russians have a different approach - instead of trying to
make the systems cope with the G stresses, they tend to select squat, fit men -
and then train them to tolerate G, rather than trying to have systems (G-suits,
cockpit environment etc) that try to cater for all body sizes.

In other words - start with the best bodies - then add the systems.

During a visit to Kubinka, near Moscow, (the home of the Russian aerobatic
teams - the Russian Knights and the Swifts) in 1993, they told us that during a
visit by the Blue Angels they swapped back-seat rides in F/A-18's and Su-27's &
MiG-29's.

The US Navy pilots (who are no slouches!) were amazed at the Russian pilot's
ability to tolerate high-G forces.

In fact they (the Russian pilots) pointed to one of their number (a short,
bull-necked, squat, MiG-29/ Swifts pilot) and said that he held the squadron
record at 11G - and this was a regular occurrence !

They also laughingly stated that when he joined the squadron he was over six
feet tall !!

(They also pointed to another pilot who had a large hook nose - and said that
he was a parrot rather than a swift !!! - they had a great sense of humour).

Also - wasn't there a discussion on this NG some time ago about the ability of
females to tolerate highr G forces than men ?? Something to do with their
physiology (lower centre of gravity ??)

Or am I opening up a whole new can of worms ??

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Ken Duffey - Flanker Freak & Russian Aviation Enthusiast
Flankers Website - http://www.flankers.co.uk/
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