| The editor remembers a 16
year old girl at Baradene College in Auckland, NZ, who suffered
greyouts, followed by blackouts and fainting if she stood motionless
for more than 5 minutes. She had low blood pressure but was otherwise
perfectly healthy. As blood flows to the retina diminished she
lost color vision (greyout), then lost her sight completely while
still conscious, (blackout), and then finally she fainted. Pilots
go through the same sequence as blood drains from their heads.
Flying suits have sealed pressurized trousers which put extra
pressure on the legs and help to maintain blood in the brain. |
Fighter
pilots wear special suits designed to put pressure on the legs
and adboman to prevent blood accumulating in the lower body and
draining away from the head. The maximum acceleration a pilot can withstand is still only 9 g's.