Instead of coming up with an entirely new suit, the release said, the experts realized that existing suits could be modified to better fit women and airmen with other body types.īut it will be at least a year, or maybe two, before these modified suits are widely used across the Air Force.
FIGHTER PILOT G FORCE HOW TO
“I honestly didn’t expect to notice much of a difference because I’d never noticed significant issues with the ATAGS sizes before, but I was pleasantly surprised that these upgrades increased the ATAGS functionality significantly under G.”Įngineers and subject matter experts from AFLCMC and the AFWERX program, under the orders of the secretary of the Air Force, began looking into how to modify flight equipment, including the anti-gravity suit, in recent years. “I definitely noticed improvement with the new updates and the darted waist in particular,” Trimble said. The testers reported that the new suit was significantly more comfortable and functional, the release said. “Pilots were asked to evaluate based on not only the ATAGS during high-G maneuvers, but also during regular activities like sitting, standing, walking and climbing into and out of the aircraft.” The pilots and aircrew member who tested the new suit “evaluated it based on comfort and performance when compared to the normal ATAGS typically worn,” said Sharon Rogers, the lead test engineer for the 46th Test Squadron. The Air Force said the two-seater F-16D model was used so a second pilot, wearing the regular gravity suit, was also there to take over in case a problem arose with the modified suit. The 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Eglin flew almost 20 sorties in F-16D fighters to test the new suits, carrying out both low- and high-G basic fighter maneuvers and other activities to see how the suits responded. The customizable waists will prevent both issues from becoming a problem, he said.
“In the past, some pilots with a shorter torso have had issues with ATAGS that were too large riding up and causing bruising on the rib cages, while pilots who are hard-to-fit may have had one size that fits through the legs, but need a smaller size in the waist,” Cruze said.
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