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Description:
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Background : Aerobatic pilots are exposed to high levels of positive and negative Gs which can be associated with career -limiting neurovestibular effects including the wobblies . Extensive research has been conducted on the effects of positive Gs in centrifuge experiments . Gz tolerances have been quantified for gray -out , black -out , and G -LOC . G -induced vestibular dysfunction or the wobblies , though not yet well studied , is thought to affect many aerobatic pilots who are exposed to high levels of negative Gs . Neurovestibular symptoms induced during flight can increase the risk of loss of aircraft control . The actual G forces experienced at head -level in aerobatic pilots have never been characterized , and this study intends to solve this knowledge gap . Methods : Five volunteers at the 2009 US National Aerobatic Championships were fitted with tri -axial accelerometer and angular rate earplug sensors . A second tri -axial accelerometer and angular rate sensor package was fixed to the plane . For each subject , data were collected from the two synchronized sets of hardware during a 10 -minute practice session . The recordings of the maximum and minimum G values were also obtained from the aircrafts G -meter . Results : The maximum and minimum values obtained from the sensors measuring linear acceleration and angular rates from the pilot and the plane were well -correlated . Paired t -tests demonstrated no significant difference between head -level and plane mean linear acceleration . Angular velocity means were mixed . The Gz accelerometer values of the pilot and the plane correlated very closely with the planes G -meter . Conclusion : Aerobatic pilots experience a large range of positive and negative accelerations , which appear to correlate well to those of their aircraft . Data can be successfully collected and correlated using tri -axial accelerometers and angular rate sensors . Future work in this field may involve clinical modeling of G -effects based on head -level accelerations and angular rates . |