g-suit

The trousers are fitted with inflatable bladders which, when pressurized through a g-sensitive valve in the aircraft or spacecraft, press firmly on the abdomen and legs, thus restricting the draining of blood away from the brain during periods of high acceleration.

However, the Swiss company Life Support Systems AG and the German Autoflug collaborated to design the new Libelle suit for use with the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, which reverts to liquid as the medium and improves on performance.

[5][6] The recognition that the tight turns required of RAF High Speed Flight pilots taking part in 1920s Schneider Trophy races causing blackouts meant a restriction to 4G to limit them to "grey out" with only partial loss of vision.

[6][10] As early as 1940 some aircraft had foot-rests above the rudder pedals so that the pilot's feet and legs could be raised during combat in an attempt to minimize the negative effects of high speed turns.

On February 19, 1942, the day of the major Japanese bombing of Darwin, Cotton's suit was approved by the Allied war chiefs.

It was examined by RAF Physiological Laboratory and the Royal Air Force ran competitive trials of the Cotton Anti-G suit with the Frank G-Suit that was already adopted in 1944.

The Franks suit was self-contained, production contracts prepared and there was insufficient capacity to develop both simultaneously so the RAF was not able to take it on but recommended the RAAF did.

Based upon their new understanding of the physiologic effects of high G-forces, they developed a more practical G-suit derived from the work of Cotton and Franks.

To prevent drops in blood pressure, the team designed an air bladder suit that inflated the pilot's calves, thighs, and abdomen.

[23] Although uncomfortable and distracting to use, later research showed that military fighter pilots who wore g-suits survived and defeated their opponents in greater numbers than those who didn't.

During World War II the German Henschel Hs 132 (never flew) and the US Northrop XP-79 (crashed on first powered flight) jets both had prone positions to minimize blood pooling in the legs.

[24] After 1945 the British experimented with prone flying positions in a highly modified Gloster Meteor F8 jet fighter and the Reid and Sigrist R.S.3 "Bobsleigh" a piston engined trainer.

[citation needed] Later jets such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Dassault Rafale can sustain high g loads for longer periods, and are therefore more physically demanding.

Aviator g-suits apply uniform pressure to the lower legs to minimize the effects of high acceleration but research from the Canadian Space Agency[25] implies there might be a benefit in having a suit for astronauts that uses a "milking action" to increase blood flow to the upper body.

[citation needed] Pilots in Red Bull Air Race World Championship have worn a g-suit called g-Race Suit since the 2009 season.

The g-race suit is a liquid (water) filled, autonomous and aircraft independent working full-body g-protection system.