Very glad your consciousness is back up and running! Loved this video and all of the little explainers from the footage - I wouldn't have noticed those things!
Fabulous! The phrase "shuts down non-essential functions, like consciousness..." make me laugh 😅 Such a great job with this video! Thanks for inviting us to tag along.
So inspiring! Love seeing the spiral vapor trail from the roll at 8:18 - It's like a breadcrumb trail of your amazing feat. So freaking cool. Congrats!
That was from the onboard smoker, the vapor clouds that form during maneuvering or transonic flight doesn't last long enough for that, and they weren't high enough to create a contrail.
Welcome back to RU-vid, you've been so missed! Loved learning the ins and outs of supersonic flight, and I'd love to see more from your Thunderbirds adventure too! So thankful for your bravery and curiosity 🙌
Great video! F-18 pilots actually normally wear G-Suits but the Blue Angels don’t. That’s because the F-18 has a center stick and they put an up to 40 pound spring on it. To hold that amount of pull they put their rudder pedals all the way back so they can rest their forearm on their knee. A G-Suit would interfere with their arm too much. Not wearing one is more so to experience what BA pilots do.
massive plus for mentioning your G-suit in the F-16 Emily! speaking of which, F/A-18 pilots also wear G-suits, but the real reason why the Blue Angels opt not to wear it is because, due to the position of the control stick (between the legs, versus a side stick on the F-16 (though both jets are controlled via Fly-by-Wire systems)), the G-suit can interfere with the control stick that, when it inflates, it restricts the full range of motion of the controls, therefore restricting the full maneuver capabilities of the jet during their show, or can actually change the position of their hand holding the controls, affecting their precision, or can even put the aircraft and the pilot in danger… in fact, Blue Angel pilots had to have a special medical clearance that prove they can fly high-G maneuvers without G-Suits, before they are cleared to even train for their performances 😁😁
The reason why the "VIP" doesn't wear a G-suit, is then the pilot can't judge how the VIP is doing. If the VIP wears a G-suit at 9G's and the pilot doesn't and G-lock out, it's a safety issue. It's safe to say for the most part, the VIP will G-lock before the pilot will. For example a few years ago, the BA and TB flew each other around, and a TB pilot g-locked while flying with the BA. The TB pilot wasn't use to the G's (without a suit) and she G-locked out. Passing out while doing G's is common and recovers quickly, but getting G-lock is more serious and takes time to recover. It was described to me... When your computer goes in sleep mode, and just need to move the mouse vs having to reboot the computer.
Congrat's on your flight with the Blue Angels. Wow, a flight with them and with the Thunderbirds must put you in a super elite class! Love your explanations and keep up the great work.
Love it! I appreciated the way you shared the G-LOC clips on social media with sound effects and music. I was rolling with laughter. This longer form with more explanation is great too. The cockpit of an F/A-18F is a great science lab for keeping folks engaged in learning.
I have watched the blue angles and thunderbirds at airshows more than 30 times and it never gets old. I have wanted to go for a ride in one so bad. But I realize that will definitely never happen lol. Great video
As an ex-RAF ground crew, when we knew there was going to be one of these flights where a civilian is given a back seat, we all knew that the pilot will pull ALL the high g aerobatics he can to deliberately make them puke and pass out. The Blue Angels are known to pull the same trick. I know that an ex F14 RIO called Ward Carrol got a back seat with them and the pilot told him that they were not going the same manoeuvres as they do with civilians because he was going to pass out or puke because he knew how to handle high g aerobatics.
Love your work emily, had to laugh when you were pulling high g's your helmet was coming down on your head , at one point your nose disappeared. I thought if he keeps going she is going to be pulled up into that helmet completely! Lol
Oh, I loved this. Such a great job explaining the relevant details, physics, etc. It's quite refreshing having someone accurately describe what is happening. Quite charming, you are very good at your job! Don't feel bad about passing out, with just a few g sessions you would pull those 7+ g's no problem! It's easy to make a non-pilot pass out, I've had people grey out in the sailplane during aerobatic rides at 3.5 G's. G tolerance is built up very quickly by G loading during multiple flights over a couple of weeks, and passengers without this are simply along for a ride in a fighter jet and at the whims of the pilot. Passing out is inevitable if they want to put enough G's on you. The Blue Angels seem to have a thing about making their passengers pass out, not sure what that is about. Perhaps it's a pride thing, it's my understanding that they, because they fly so close together, have to fly without a G suit because the inflation/deflation of the suit disturbs the fine control movements required. The rest of the Navy F-18 pilots fly with G-suits, I believe. The Blue Angels do fly close, so I take them at their word! They are the most technical aerobatic show in the world. Thanks so much for the informative video!
I read a story by a guy who flew with the Blue Angels. A few days prior to the flight, the pilot he was flying with told him to eat bananas prior to flying. He asked if bananas help prevent gettng sick. The pilot said no, nothing will help with that, but the bananas taste the same when you throw them up.
I absolutely love this video. It's the perfect combination of "Wow, I've done this. Come tag along" alongside "Welp, this happened" and education. Would I love to see/know more about your ride with the Thunderbirds? You bet!
Well done! That was fun to watch! You explained (almost) everything so that I could easily understand. The only thing I would say is, ONLY the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds don't wear G-suits. However, every other military pilot flying fast jets do wear G-suits and oxygen masks. The reason these demonstration teams do not, is because the bladders inflating all the time would seriously hamper the pilots' ability to be able to fly the way they do. Just a little fun fact. Fly Navy
Loved this!!! What is it exactly that makes you sick, or what parts make you queasy? The less-than-1-G moments? Being upside down? A particular maneuver? Also yesss to a Thunderbirds video even if it was 2+ years ago! It's fun following along with all the exciting things you get to do!
For me it’s always depended on the maneuver, some are different than others. Tossing your equilibrium around in those ways really confuses your brain. For me it’s usually anything just after negative G’s. Personally, negative G’s get me more than positive ones.
Its not that the F/A-18 cockpit is too small for a g-suit, its only the Blue Angel squadron that does not wear them. They are worn by all pilots and wizos on deployment.
G-Suits are used in F-18's. I don't know off hand why The Blue Angels crew didn't provide you with one. I do know the their aircraft are stripped of many of the systems that a fleet ready aircraft would be equipped with. This could potentially include the G-Suit control systems. Also The Blue Angels pilots are among the most well trained and conditioned pilots from the fleet, so they might just not use them, as they know how many G's each maneuver creates, and train for them without the assistance of a G-Suit. I will look into this and come back to edit or correct myself if any of this was inaccurate. Okay, so it turns out the Blue Angels pilots do not use G-Suits, as the can interfere with the control stick between their legs during certain maneuvers. So therefore it is entirely possible that the command just does not stock G-Suits. Which is very unfortunate for the untrained. You did as well as can be expected for your first go at it. Thank you for sharing this. It was nice to see my old stomping grounds. I used to work in that hangar that you were operating out of.
Fun adventure - however: Pilots and NFOs wear a g-suit in the F/A-18 normally - the Blue Angels are "odd" in the Navy for NOT wearing them. Heck, we wore them in the slow old S-3B Viking .
Great video!! Yeah you looked out of it when you came to, your face had no emotion. One question. Did you have to get a medical clearance before flight, is it in depth check or general health? Thunderbird video would be fun to watch.
2006-0526, Aviation, NCO of the Year Dies in Flight. AF Airman of the year taken on an incentive flight aboard an F-16, tail number 84-1326, his oxygen system malfunctions, and he dies in flight. This was the only AF Aviation accidental death in FY-06.
You don't hear the sonic boom while traveling above Mach 1, but when you drop back below Mach 1, do you then hear the sonic boom, since the sound waves can then catch up to you again?
First time watching your channel. Would love to see you do a review of Quantized Inertia. IVO just launched a cubesat to test the new physics theory. It's VERY exciting and will change our understanding of the universe.
Actually, MOST F/A-18 aircrews DO wear G-Suits, the Blue Angels are the only exception to this, since they fly in very close formations, often less than 18 inches from the other plane, they have to have very firm control on the control stick, most of them fly with their elbows on their knees for stability, and having a g-suit inflating under your elbows would very quickly prove fatal this is why the Blue angels do not wear G-Suits, but all other F/A-18 crews do.
That isn’t actually true about F-18 pilots not wearing a g-suit. The Blue Angels don’t, because with enough training, fitness and hydration, humans actually *can* withstand high G-forces without assistance for a short period of time. And the Blue Angels aren’t flying combat-so they are not distracted from their breathing techniques like a typical F-18 pilot on a mission might be. During a combat or training mission, the pilot has to be looking around constantly, managing the weapons, radar and communications-all while flying and pulling Gs. In that sort of situation, the help provided by the g-suit means that they don’t have to concentrate as much squeezing muscles and breathing in a particular way. As for the technicalities of flying the plane-Navy (and USAF and Marine) pilots are trained so well and get so much time flying that actually controlling the plane is nearly unconscious. To compare it to something I do very well-skiing-I know how to maneuver on skis so well that if I *look* where I want to go, my body shifts weight enough to take me there-I am not consciously thinking about how to turn, change speed, or stop. Even unintentionally getting some air is dealt with without too much thought.
Emily, your description of the sonic boom is not correct. You showed a graphic of the boom happening at a point (often interpreted as the moment you "break the sound barrier") and being left behind the airplane as it is traveling faster than the speed of sound. Yes, the airplane is moving faster than the sound waves, but it doesn't "leave behind" one sonic boom. The boom is not a one-time event that occurs when accelerating past Mach 1. It is continuous as long as the plane is flying supersonically, and everybody under the plane's flight path will hear the boom as it passes overhead. The boom is created by the shock waves emanating from various surfaces on the plane, from the nose to the tail. The shock waves start out as very weak pressure increases when flying at and just above Mach 1, and they are perpendicular to the axis of the plane at Mach 1, sweeping back at higher speeds. The sweep-back angle of the shock waves relative to vertical is arccos(1/M), where M = Mach number. The angle is 0° at Mach 1, and 60° at Mach 2. You can draw a picture of the plane with the nose at the apex of a cone surrounding the plane in all directions. This depicts the shock waves from the nose that are always there while the plane is flying supersonically. There are shock and expansion waves all around the plane, and by the time they reach the ground, the shocks have usually merged into a nose shock and a tail shock, which create the loud double-boom sound of a sonic boom. Since the shocks travel with the plane, the pilot does not hear the boom-the shocks are not moving past his ears but they are constant from his point of view. Think of the waves produced by a boat traveling at a fast speed. When riding on the boat, you see the waves generated from the bow to the stern, and they appear to be unchanging if the boat is moving at a constant speed and if the water is smooth. People on the shore will see the waves lap up on the shore, as will everyone along the shoreline as the boat passes them. In the same way, the nose and tail shocks from a supersonic plane pass over the ground, and it is the passing of the shock waves over people on the ground that creates the double-boom sound. Every ship on the Atlantic Ocean that was under the flight path (or within ~25 miles either side of the flight path) of the Concorde as it flew supersonically between Europe and the U.S. heard the sonic boom. I (Don Durston) am a NASA aerospace engineer who has been studying sonic booms from future supersonic airline concepts for many years. Check out the various NASA web pages on this topic, such as www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/armstrong/ames-contributions-to-the-x-59-quiet-supersonic-technology-aircraft/
g suits are with all tactical jets. Neither the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds pilots wear g suits. I'm surprised the Blue's didn't give a passenger a g-suit.
It's really sad to see these people get to go up and get a ride and can't even hack the G’s. When service members can't even get a ride for their retirement.
