G-Force, Jerk, and Passing Out In A Centrifuge

Editorial Analysis

Thanks to the Starrship team for arranging this! I'm also over on their channel, flying with the Blades: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWY3-1gOrxk • At the Royal Air Force training centrifuge in Farnbrough, pilots learn how to avoid G-LOC: g-induced loss of consciousness. Let's talk about g-force, about jerk, and about how to keep circulation flowing to your brain.\n\nFAQs:\n\n* Isn't 3.6g a really low g-tolerance? *\nYep. Turns out I would not qualify to be a fighter pilot. The average range for g-tolerance is 4-6; no-one was expecting me to pass out. The centrifuge team do not deliberately try to G-LOC people! To be fair, though, I'd done a few earlier runs with only minor effects.\n\n* What g was the RAF person at the start pulling? *\nThat's Marcus, from the Starrship team, and he was successfully pulling 6.5g with the help of g-trousers: they plug into a compressed air source in the plane (and in the centrifuge) and act as a lower-body tourniquet to keep the blood up top. They are very effective.\n\n* Why did you shake and shudder when regaining consciousness? *\nThose are called myoclonic convulsions, which is a fancy medical term for muscle jerks, and they're a common side effect of recovering from G-LOC.\n\n* What did it feel like? *\nI'll answer this in more detail in a video over on the Matt and Tom channel soon, but in short: I don't remember it. I was doing the breathing maneuver, then everything was wobbly, then we were stopped!\n\n* Is this a sponsored video? *\nNo: the RAF and Starrship had no editorial control over this, and no money changed hands. Obviously, though, they gave me a spin in the centrifuge, and I'm collaborating with them over on their channel too!\n\n\nTHANKS TO: \nThe RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Starrship team, and the folks at Qinetiq.\n\nSTARRSHIP:\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/starrshiphope/\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/starrshiphope/\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/starrshiphope\n\n\nI'm at http://tomscott.com\non Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott\non Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott\nand on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo