G-suits, worn by aviators, apply pressure to the stomach and legs to prevent blood from leaking out of the brain during rapid acceleration. They counter the effects of G-force on the human body, with resistance training and G suits allowing pilots and astronauts to withstand higher G loads. The first G-suit was developed in 1941, and the latest model, the LIBELLE G-Multiplus, is made from a hybrid material consisting of Nomex and Kevlar that passes through channels of a water-based liquid and has been successfully tested at up to 12 G’s.
Gravity suits, also known as G-suits, are specially designed garments worn by aviators who experience rapid acceleration, such as fighter pilots and astronauts. The suits apply pressure to the stomach and legs and prevent blood from leaking out of the brain during acceleration. This process allows the user to withstand higher sustained gravitational forces for longer periods of time.
G-suits are more accurately called anti-G suits, since their goal is to counter the effects of the G-force on the human body. The G’s are measurements of acceleration expressed in multiples of the force of gravity. The results reveal the amount of stress that is exerted on an accelerating body due to inertia. A G is the force that gravity exerts on a person on the surface of the earth.
An individual’s resistance to the G force is based on several factors. In general, an average human can endure between three and five G’s held before passing out, known as a G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC). G-LOC is caused by a lack of blood flow to the brain, essentially without oxygen.
Pilots and astronauts can withstand much higher G loads with the help of resistance training and G suits. To put the amount of stress into perspective, during a typical commercial flight, passengers would probably never experience more than one and a half G’s. However, fighter pilots could experience around nine G’s coming out of a hard dive.
Type G suits generally consist of tight-fitting pants that contain inflatable bags. These sacs are sensitive to the amount of G-force being exerted and are filled with pressurized fluid or air to prevent too much blood from flowing down the axis of the body. G suits can be worn outside or inside the flight suit, depending on the model.
The first G-suit was developed by a team at the University of Toronto in 1941. Led by Dr. Wilbur R. Franks, the team discovered that they could dampen the effects of the G-force by wearing a garment consisting of a layer of water. between two sheets of rubber. In testing, however, this system proved bulky and uncomfortable. In 1944, the US Air Force and Navy, in cooperation with the Mayo Clinic and the Berger Brothers Company, designed a new model G-suit with compressed air that was more successful. This pattern became known as the Berger suit, and subsequent patterns tended to follow the same basic design.
However, in the 2000s, the Swiss inventor Andreas Reinhard and the German company Autoflug developed a new style, which is called LIBELLE G-Multiplus. It is a full-body suit, made from a hybrid material consisting of flame-resistant Nomex and Kevlar that passes through channels of a water-based liquid. As G-forces increase, the fluid channels contract, dragging the suit material along with them, effectively acting as a vice. This model has been successfully tested at up to 12 G’s.
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