8G's With the Blue Angels
Flying with the Blue Angels during Fleet Week Oct, 2003 taking off from SFO for a quick flight over the Pacific. First off: these Navy pilots are studs. Second: I give the Lt. major props for dealing with my stupidity instead of hitting the eject button. The "hick" maneuver I was told to use is necessary to pump the blood back into the brain as the g forces try to pull it out. (You're basically crunching your stomach muscles / diaphragm.) When we pulled 8G's, all the color evaporated from my vision, I went gray, then tunnel, then black as the sound went echoey while still maintaining consciousness. Was kind of like a Saturday morning at 1:30 am. I felt my worst at youtube time 1:33 with my eyeballs about to pop out. The Blue Angels rest their arms on their thighs while flying / performing maneuvers / flying in formation, etc. That's why they don't wear G-suits because the inflation / deflation of the tubes along their thighs would jiggle their flight arms. Also, you don't hear an explosion when you break the sound barrier, because that collapsing of air is way behind you. There's no way that sound can catch up. And no, I didn't pass out or throw up: that's how I fly.
