For the Speedhawk pilots the force of gravity, or 'G' as it is commonly known, is second nature and it is carefully utilised on each and every flight. However, we understand that for most passengers the concept may seem a little foreign.
Once you see it for yourself we are pretty sure you will understand why we find the experience so much fun! Although a little background knowledge may be helpful for you to understand the 'lingo' before your flight.
Most aerobatic manoeuvres involve a change in speed or direction which can impose significant forces on the occupants and aircraft. Modern aircraft such as the Extra 300L are designed to be sufficiently strong to deal with even the highest of these forces. This leaves us humans as the weakest link and the effect of these forces may range from minor discomfort to temporary loss of vision or consciousness.
Pull up manoeuvres produce a positive G force causing the body and limbs to feel heavier and more difficult to use. Blood is forced down to the lower part of the body. As blood is forced away from the head this may lead to a reduction in vision known as 'grey out', or a loss of vision known as 'black out'. In more extreme cases it may lead to a short period of 'Loss of Consciousness', known as 'G-LOC'.
Push over manoeuvres may initially produce a feeling of weightlessness followed by a negative G force which forces the occupant into the harness and the blood towards the head, producing the type of feeling that is felt when hanging upside down.
Given the nature of G force on our typical flights you will hear your pilot recommending what we call the 'Squeeze'. This simple method of anti G straining involves contracting the abdominal muscles as if to make your waist as small as possible. This will help to maintain blood pressure to the upper body and head for the short periods of high positive G experienced during our typical flight.
Prior to experiencing higher G forces a countdown of '3-2-1' from your pilot will help you anticipate the need to squeeze. This means that you will negate this natural physiological effect and hopefully be fully conscious throughout the experience. Additionally the comfortable semi reclined seating position in Hawk assists by elevating your legs thereby reducing the blood pressure required for circulation.
The effects do vary significantly from person to person and communicating how you are handling the G force will allow us to ensure that the experience takes you to the limit, but not over the limit!
Typically we limit the negative G to short durations of inverted flight when you will either experience the wonder of weightlessness or the unusual feeling of being upside down held securely in your seat by the double clasp, ratcheting 5 point aerobatic seatbelt. If you are up for the challenge we may do a tumble or two, during which you will experience a small amount of negative G for a short duration. Most passengers liken this to a wild roller coaster, but despite this feeling even tumbles are totally controlled.
High sustained negative G is extremely uncomfortable even for the best aerobatic pilots and unlike the positive G there is really no way to limit its effects, so rest assured we will not expose you to this unless specifically requested.
G force is measured in the aircraft with an accelerometer, when the aircraft is stationary it will read 1G, it has three indicators so as well as indicating the current level of G force it will record peak positive G and negative G. It is located in the pilot's instrument panel, so we will be sure to tell you the amount of G force you are experiencing. Be sure to get a photo of the peak G values recorded on your flight, you won't meet many people aside from astronauts and jet pilots that have experienced these sort of forces!
G, positive, negative, grey out, black out, g-loc, squeeze, accelerometers...now you have the lingo...are you ready for the experience??
