Pulling Gs Lesson 1
| "We are now to the point where the limiting factor in aircraft design
is the man,not the machine."
M.B. Tomme, Jr., Chief of Simulations, General Dynamics
Corporation
|
| "No matter what those Viper guys may say, nine Gs is most definitely
NOT fun."
Captain Ed Tomme, famous fighter pilot, immediately
following his centrifuge run
|
During this lesson, you will discover a number of interesting things
that will help you understand why pulling Gs is an essential part of not
only violent fighter maneuvers, but a requirement for turning ANY
aircraft. You may explore the concept of acceleration (measured in an
aircraft in units of "Gs") through several avenues, including:
-
a video analysis of an actual human centrifuge run
-
a hands-on lab which will challenge you to perform several different types
of accelerations
Objectives:
-
Know the definition of centripetal force and acceleration.
-
Understand that "centripetal force" is not a new kind of force, but is
just the name given to any force which causes an object to undergo centripetal
acceleration.
-
Be able to use Newton's Second Law to solve a wide variety of dynamics
problems involving centripetal motion.
-
Understand that acceleration occurs due to changes in the direction and/or
magnitude of the velocity vector.
-
Be able to calculate the number of "Gs" experienced by aircrews when aircraft
undergo various turns and loops.
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