National Defense

Defence nationale

3/1996

HERCULES (CC130341)
from 435 Squadron 17 Wing Winnipeg

Canada`
Co~TENTs ~S I SEE IT by Col D.C . Matthews, Commanding Officer AETE

6
i range wire, miles of orange a basis upon which to make our operational deployments in the
wire, is a visible and well known decisions . Although this process is Persian Gulf and Haiti . You can have
_ As I See It Keeping Your Sense A Flight Safety Partner
symbol of the airworthiness mis- designed to manage the risk of test the best flour on the market but
of Humour sion of the Aerospace Engineering Test flying, it is not unique to test flying . without a little yeast and water you

1
Establishment (AETE) at CFB Cold Lake . We used similar processes in Haiti will not eat bread, So it is with risk
G-LOC, Doing the Aviate, Navigate, Another facet of the operation not so flying the Twin Huey and in the management and operations, they
Rubber Chicken For Professionalism Communicate readily seen is the risk management Persian Gulf flying the Hornet . will not be effective without personal
process we use to ensure that our people energy and personal discipline . Each
and our equipment are kept as safe Combat 0 p erations, and every one of us must apply energy
1 The Devil in the Details Timberrrrrrr For Professionalism as possible in the always tricky and Peace 0 p erations, and discipline to the job . That may
sometimes risky business of flight test . seem difficult in an era of rapid
i I welcomed the term risk
Operations at Home Base change and uncertainty ; nonetheless,
That is another reason that we are trained to handle change and
Seeing is Believing Questioning My Canadair North Star management into our vocabulary
because it captures the essence of I prefer the term risk management . uncertainty, because they are our
Decision Making Process Simply stated, neither combat nor
much that we do m the aerospace constant foes dunng any difficult
business . The term flight safety, as many of our UN operations are safe . operation-combat or otherwise .
positive and as useful as it is, some- However, that does not mean that we We must continue to build teams
times suffers from a lack of clarity . are not concerned with safety . Everyone that are full of energy and discipline,
For example, safety concerns all facets in the air wants to come home alive focused on the given mission . With that
of the operation, flight and non flight . and everyone on the ground wants to foundation, we can use our experience

~ FLIGHT
Furthermore, not all of our work can be part of the team that brings them and knowledge to identify the hazards,
be safe, combat operations quickly home in one piece . Whether you are minimize the risks and successfully
come to mind . bombing tank convoys in Iraq or flying meet the challenges in the same brave
a night vision goggle mission in the manner that the Air Force has for
0
v Risk Manaqement mountains of Haiti to save the last 72 years . As I See It .

~C 0 M M E N~ a All 240 of us at AETE, whether

election officials from
a lynch mob, you use
we reduce data in the processing your knowledge
centre, build sensors in the flight
Air Command Flight Safety The Canadian Forces 0 and experience to
Flight Safety Mag~zine test instrumentation laboratory,
Direct~r-Flight Safety L
0 identify the hazards,
maintain the aircraft, determine
Col R. Bastien Flight Comment is produced 6 times minimize the risks, and
a year by Air Command Flight 5afety . the engineering test points, fly the
Air Weapons Safety get the job done . That is
The contents do not necessarily ON THE COVER: platforms or manage the business, risk management, and
CWO 0.1 . Wiwchar
reflect official policy and unless are part of the risk management
Editors Part of the AETE Flight it is valid whether
otherwise stated should not be process . Everyone is involved, in one
Capt Bill Collier construed as regulations, orders Test Program of the we are flying at
Capt Stephane Fortier way or another, during the phases home or in an
or directives . CC130 Electronic Warfare of that process : the test plan technical
Art Direction Contributions, comments and Self-Protection Suite where operational
review, the test aircraft airworthiness
D CA 2-6 criticism are welcome ; the promotion theatre .
of flight safety is best served by the Jettison Mode is being review, the risk assessment and the
Translation However,
Command Coordinator disseminating ideas and on-the-job tested and evaluated . Release test plan safety review . today at AETE,
Official Languages experience . Send submissions to : of the 300 (30 Mark 46 Flares The purpose of the project risk and elsewhere
Printer per dispenser in 10 dispensers) assessment is to identify test unique
Editor, flight Comment, D.FS. I believe, we
Kromar Printing Ltd. Air Command Headquarters flares! The flares are designed hazards and to assign a level of risk require two
Winnipeg, Manitoba PO Box 17000 Stn Forces to each hazard . Then we devise proce-
to decoy heat-seeking missiles inqredients in
Investigation Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 3Y5 dures to minimize the risk and assign
away from the aircraft . all of us if we are
LCoI R.W . Gagnon Telephone : (204) 833-2500 loc 5723 a project risk factor based on the
to be successful
Prevention FAX: (204) 833-2613 identified hazards and their associated in this venture-
LCoI M .F Kennedy Subscription orders should be risks (taking into account the antici- Energy and
Photographic Support directed to : Annual subscription rate : for pated effectiveness of the minimizing Discipline . Needless
CF Photo Unit-Rockcliffe Publishing Centre, Canada, $17 .50, single issue $3 .00; procedures) . Now we have a detailed
CCG, for other countries, $21 .00 US ., to say, we had the same
Cpl 1.C . Marcoux assessment of the level of risk associ-
Cpl C.L . Penney Ottawa, Ont . K 1 A 059 single issue $3 .60 U5 . Prices do requirements during our
Telephone: Area Code (613) 956-4800 not indude GST, Payment should ated with a particular evaluation and
be made to Receiver General for
Canada . This Publication or its
ISSN 0015-3702
contents may not be reproduced
A-J 5-000-0061J P-000 without the editor's approval .

Fliqht Comment Na 3, 1996 1

 1
_ I I i It indudes training sessions in DCIEM's with 12% of the respondents indicating the majority of the G-LOC episodes
human centrifuge, which provides the that they had experienced a G-LOC occurring at 4 .5 to 7G . Although 78%
I
pilots with an opportunity to experi- episode . In 1986, the Directorate of of the G-LOC episodes occurred when
by Sonia Latchman and Lieutenant Richard Gower Flight Safety conducted a survey on the respondent was not at the flight
ence high G and practise their AGSM
in a controlled centrifuge environment . G-LOC in the Canadian Forces . Unlike controls, 22% were flying the aircraft,
Many countries now use a centrifuge the USAF survey, the CF survey was with almost half of those incidents
What is G? G represents the unit of measurement when a Dr . A . P . Thurston tested
a "Captive Flying Machine" built by
for pilot training of the AGSM . sent to all pilots, and was not restricted oaurring during a solo flight . When
to pilots currently flying high perfor- asked to what they would attribute the
Sir Hiram Maxim as an attraction at
used to measure the force of acceleration being fairs . Dr. Thurston, 'became unconscious
G-Tolerance mance jets . The CF survey found that LOC episode, 55% of the respondents
G-LOC had been experienced at least responded that the lack of warning of
at 6 .87G and regained consciousness The AGARD report states that imminent G was a contributing factor .
once by 27% of the respondents, with
experienced by an object in Earth's gravitational only after the machine had slowed an individual's basic G level tolerance
to 3G .' seated upright and relaxed is approxi-

field . For our purposes, the object is the pilot, and Pilots have experienced G-LOC,
at that time called "fainting in the
mately +4Gs at normal acceleration
rates . Factors considered important
1986 SURVEY OF CF PILOTS
air", as far back as World War One . in maintaining G tolerance indude
if that pilot is standing on the ground, he or she is During the 1920's contestants in various practise at pullmg G, good general Dlstrlbuted questionnalres . 2016
air races in the U .S . reported suffering health and physical condition, adequate Returned q uestionnaires : 1058 (52%)
experiencing +1G of acceleration . A steep, 60 degree from blackout and loss of consciousness. rest, a proper diet, and keeping li e- Res p ondents with at least 1 G-LOC e P isode: 282 (27%)
During World War Two, blackout, and style stressors (such as illness, smoking,
Total G-LOC e p risodes re p orted : 376
to some extent, G-LOC were considered alcohol and medications) to a minimum .
banked turn subjects a pilot to about +2Gs, while a major problem for Allied fighter An anti-G suit increases an individual's
pilots . Centrifuges were built and G- tolerance by about 1G . The AGSM INTERESTING FACTS REGARDING
a hard turn or dive recovery manoeuvre might research into the physiological effects is capable of increasing G-level toler-
of G resulted m the development of ance by 4Gs, bringing a pilot's tolerance THE G-LOC EPISODES
generate G forces of up to +10Gs . A manoeuvre like an anti-G suit and an anti-G straining to about +9Gs if he or she is wearing
manoeuvre (AGSM) . (An AGSM mvolves an anti-G suit and is performing the " 55% of the G-LOC e p isodes cited lack of warnin 9 of
isometric muscle contraction and regu- AGSM . This amount of increase in
an outside loop will typically expose the pilot to lated breathing routines.) These two G tolerance is only possible however,
imminent G as a p redis P osln 9 factor .
methods are still the principal means if the pilot is well trained in perform-
a negative G force of -3 or -4Gs . of increasing G tolerance for pilots ing the AGSM manoeuvre, has adequate " 22% of e P isodes occurred to p ilot at fli 9 ht controls .
of high performance aircraft . strength and performs it optimally .
Interest in studying G-LOC subsided While most sources acknowledge
ilots flying fighter aircraft seldom experience a loss of peripheral vision shortly after WWII and then re-emerged that G-LOC tends to occur in unpro- " 10% of e p isodes occurred durin 9 solo fli 9 ht.
remain in a state of rest or of uni- (called Greyout) or a complete loss again in the 1970s "as higher perfor- tected individuals at approximately
form motion for very long . To do of vision (called Blackout) . However, rnance aircraft continued to evolve ." +4Gs, it has been shown to happen " 66% of e P isodes occurred in the Tutor .
their jobs, their bodies are subjected to if the G rate onset is high, the pilot In 1972, F-4 pilots assigned to the to individuals exposed to only +2Gs .
rapid changes in direction and velocity . will quickly pass frorn full capability Fighter Weapons Instructor Course The body's tolerance to G is a function
The high and sustained forces that these to complete unconsciousness with no at Nellis AFB, Nevada began high-G of the peak G level, as well as G onset " 17% of the Tutor e P isodes occurred with a student at the
motions create, can result in a pilot visual warning symptoms . Recovery centrifuge training (a centrifuge repro- rate, duration of G, and a newly discov- controls ( 11 % of all e p isodes ), almost half of which (44%)
suffering a highly undesirable condition takes approximately 30 seconds, during duces the accelerations produced by ered phenomena, the initial or starting were solo fli 9 hts.
called G-LOC. Recent studies have deter- which time the pilot will be 'completely aircraft, and is used to teach pilots G level . Recent research at DCIEM and
mined that G-LOC is not just a nemesis incapacitated' for approximately how to safely perform an effective the US Navy lab in Pensacola, Florida
of fighter pilots . It is a condition that 15 seconds, and then disoriented AGSM) at the USAF School of Aerospace has shown that G-tolerance is signifi- " 5% involved forces in excess of 7 .5 G, with the 9 reat
can occur in any pilot given the right and generally unaware of the situation Medicine (USAFSAM) . Ninety-four F-4 cantly reduced if the pilot starts from ma'orit
1 Y bein 9 between 4 .5 and 7 G .
(or wrong) situation . for an additional 15 seconds . Amnesia aircrews were trained in performing less than +1 G . This reduced tolerance
G-LOC! The very word invites query . of the G-LOC is common ; upon reviv-
For a non-pilot, the first question is, ing, the pilot often doesn't remember
the AGSM before the program was is worse with more negative G (-G) " 34% of e P isodes occurred durin 9 vertical aerobatics.
terminated in 1973 . Training of fighter and more time exposed to the -G . This
what is G-LOC? For people who fly, the the episode . Some pilots experience pilots on a centrifuge on a regular loss of tolerance has been coined the
questions are more pressing . Why does convulsive-like flailing movements basis was resumed at USAFSAM in "push-pull effect" . A video describing " 13% occurred to the individual not at the controls durin 9
it happen? Who is susceptible? What during recovery after G-LOC-hence 1983 after it was recognized that this "push-pull effect" has been pro- the execution of Closed Patterns (a much ti 9 hter circuit
type of aircraft can it occur in? When the term 'rubber chicken' .
is it most likely to take place? How
fatal USAF aircraft mishaps were duced by the Directorate of Flight
P attern than usual) .
being caused by G-LOC . Safety (DFS) in concert with DCIEM,
dangerous is it? What can a pilot do A look at the past Centrifuge training for CF pilots and is available through DFS .
to increase his or her tolerance?
According to a 1990 report began in 1989, with the introduction " 5% occurred durin 9 air combat manoeuvres (ACM).
G-LOC is an acronym for G-induced
published by the Advisory Group for of the Canadian Forces High Sustained So How Often and In What
Loss Of Consciausness . G-LOC occurs
when G loading robs the brain of the
Aerospace Research and Development G (CF HSG) Course . This one day course, Situations do Pilots G-LOC? " Three of the five G-LOC e p isodes which occurred on CF-18
developed by DCIEM, teaches CF pilots
flow of blood which carries the neces-
(AGARD), the first documented case The first in-depth survey on G-LOC were due to Inadvertent G-sult dlsconnectlons, a p roblem
of G-induced Loss Of Consciousness about the hazards of G-exposure (such
sary sugar and oxygen to keep it func- as G-LOC), and strategies for G-protection . was conducted for the USAF in 1983 . which has since been resolved .
appeared to have occurred in 1903
tioning . Prior to G-LOC, the pilot may The survey had a 30% response rate

I Flight Camment No . 3, ]996

2 Flrqht Cornment No, 3, 1996
 I

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. "~~~nw,

~m Dreamland to Boot Hill

~ves jusqu'a six pieds sous terre
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