Hello, I'm Gian Volpicelli, I'm a senior editor at WIRED UK
and very soon I will be spun in this machine here.
This is the Thales high-G training facility
at the RAF station in Cranwell, Lincolnshire.
Here military jet pilots learn to fight one of the strongest forces they'll have to deal with
gravitational force, also known as G-force.
The new facility tests pilots up to 9G.
David Bolsover is a retired RAF wing commander who has served in the Gulf War and in Bosnia,
over his career he has clocked up thousands of hours of flight in combat jets.
So this is a high-G training facility to train
pilots how to resist the forces of G in high-performance aircraft by using an
anti-G straining manoeuvre.
The facility consists of a centrifuge in the gondola where the pilot sits,
which is made to look like a real cockpit and includes a
flight simulator so pilots can complete exercises while being spun around.
The centrifuge is powered by 20 tonnes of gear and can reach up to 4,000 horsepower
its main counterbalance weighs 11 tonnes.
Before taking off, I need to chat to the doctor, where I am taught what to do during
high-G acceleration: tense my muscles to keep my blood in the upper part of the body
and breathe rhythmically so that the lungs can expand and help the blood flow from
the heart to the brain.
This anti-G suit inflates when G-force increases, which prevents blood
from zooming out of my brain and pooling at the bottom of my body.
'OK, so when you’re ready, just push the bank on and start the turn,
and there’s just a little bit more squeeze than you had before'
'A little bit more bank,
keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, and squeeze now'
'Muscle tensing, take a little bit of the bank off'
'Gian, I have control' 'All good'
'Try and keep your breathing normal,
'in rate and depth'
'Did you feel the anti-G trousers?' 'I did, I did feel like something hugging my waist'
'Very nice description and did you apply some muscle tensing as well?' 'I think I did'
'OK, so we’re going to set up for the next event, which is going to be a maximum G of 4.5,
and I'll speak to you again after that'
'squeeze down'
'Bank off, take some bank off'
'Breathe normally'
'I have control' 'Good'
'How is that Gian?' 'That was very great, I actually should have been a pilot.
I was always very afraid of flying, but today I didn't feel it'
'That’s what I knew I was going to like about you, your modesty'
'Do you think you have had enough for one day?'
'I'm very hungry' 'You're hungry?'
'Yeah I didn't have lunch, I was afraid of puking'
'Really well done' 'Thank you, I did my best'
That was actually good, I was just very bad at flying but the actual G wasn't a problem
Now can I go?