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Pilot pulls record-setting 9.6Gs in Red Bull Air Race watch!

youtube.com — Here are scenes from the Red Bull Air Race. These guys are pulling 9 to 10 Gs which is crazy. A nascar driver is pulling about 4 G's this is twice as much. Just the helmet alone on your head that weighs 20 pounds now weighs 200 pounds due to this massive amount of pressure!

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  • fprintf, on 07/26/2008, -2/+100Holy smokes, this is just unbelievably flying. I am completely impressed by the Gs that the pilots *and* the planes can withstand.
    • flygirl62, on 07/27/2008, -0/+22Actually, the Red Bull website actually states that the G-forces sometimes get up to 12G's. http://www.redbullairrace.com/about.php?lang=en&id ...

      If you listen closely to the announcer, he says "that's a record today" meaning that's a record FOR today. I think more than 9.6Gs have been pulled in airplanes MANY times before.

      Not to lessen the severity. I, myself, have experienced 5.5 in an airplane and I cannot imagine what 9.6 would be like!
      • JD52, on 07/27/2008, -4/+16Ever been kicked in the balls by an old French prostitute with a wooden leg? It's kinda like that.
      • flygirl62, on 07/27/2008, -2/+19Actually, no, I never have.

        You might check the gender of a poster before asking them if they've been kicked in the balls by someone. :-)
      • cyberfreak01, on 07/27/2008, -1/+10Lord knows I have......
      • joeydoo, on 07/27/2008, -0/+4I was watching the Rotterdam stage yesterday and half of the time they went up to 11.5G.... that's what it takes to be competitive. You can also see them hold their breath as they make those 11+G turns. If they didn't hold their breath they would instantly pass out.... at 400MPH 20 feet from the deck that's instant death.
    • quomen, on 07/27/2008, -1/+11This reminds me of Star Fox..


      DO A BARREL ROLL!
    • jamie191817, on 07/27/2008, -1/+2The impressive thing is that all the pilots look like they're about 50 :S
    • BossKey, on 07/27/2008, -0/+3One thing that's cool about air racing is that it's like a Star Wars-style sport that actually happens in real life.
  • optoomistic, on 07/27/2008, -44/+3umm something tells me this sport wont last long ....
    crash?
    • Linake, on 07/27/2008, -0/+3Crash and bury.
    • MacBandit, on 07/27/2008, -2/+6Hmm this sport has been going on for a long time. Nearly as long as people have been flying.

      Buried!
  • kelchm, on 07/27/2008, -9/+4wow.
  • elshizzo, on 07/27/2008, -3/+26Isn't that kind of G force supposed to be fatal? Or atleast make someone unconscious?
    • cr250guy, on 07/27/2008, -0/+67If you notice, his face makes really funny expressions and his breathing changes dramatically under intense G forces, which are signs of the techniques employed by skilled pilots to keep themselves conscious during periods of high stress.
      • LavaWarrior, on 07/27/2008, -0/+15Yes, that do that to push blood to the brain, because under that intense of G force, all your blood will rush towards your feet.
      • HayString, on 07/27/2008, -0/+8I wonder if he wears a G-suit.
      • Linake, on 07/27/2008, -21/+1HayString: It's not a G-suit, it's called a G-Unit.
      • razrielle, on 07/27/2008, -0/+4Haystring: He is not wearing a G-vest, but he might be wearing a G-suit which are ment to inflate at around 2 g's (milspec, dont know about what civilian sector has it at) its hard to tell since you cannot see below his upper chest
      • quomen, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Yup cr250 is right. Aviation challenge FTW!
    • wilf_brim, on 07/27/2008, -0/+5It would be if it were sustained for any length of time. You can see that he only hit 9.6 very transiently. But the meter was usually in the 2-4 range, which is a fair bit over that period of time, especially when you are flying so fast, so hard, and so close to the ground.
    • alpha88, on 07/27/2008, -0/+37For those curious:

      Highest g-forces survived by humans

      Voluntary
      - Colonel John Stapp in 1954 sustained 46.2 g in a rocket sled, while conducting research on the effects of human deceleration.

      Involuntary
      - Formula One racing car driver David Purley survived an estimated 179.8 g in 1977 when he decelerated from 173 km/h (108 mph) to rest over a distance of 66 cm (26 inches) after his throttle got stuck wide open and he hit a wall.
      - Indy Car driver Kenny Bräck crashed on lap 188 of the 2003 race at Texas Motor Speedway. Bräck and Tomas Scheckter touched wheels, sending Bräck into the air at 200+ mph, hitting a steel support beam for the catch fencing. According to Bräck's site his car recorded 214 g.
      • Elliuotatar, on 07/27/2008, -0/+13"- Indy Car driver Kenny Bräck ..."

        Yeah but they never found the body, and now he's living it up as a billionaire in the future.
      • CrazyArcher, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Yeah, but there was that whole thing with Anthony Hopkins trying to kill him. But things turned out alright for him in the end.
      • midejitsu, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Maybe it has something to do with when I grew up, but I could never understand how Emilio Estevez failed to become the biggest star in the world. Freejack was awesome, wasn’t it? I mean it totally was, right?
      • luke16, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2John Strapp survived, but suffered severe injuries including including broken limbs, ribs, detached retinas, and miscellaneous traumas which eventually resulted in lifelong lingering vision problems caused by permanently burst blood vessels in his eyes.

        I've seen a video of it and when it was finished they came over to open the cockpit and his eye pupils were litterally hanging out. Shame i can't find it anywhere, i saw it on tv though.
      • pe5t1lence, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1I love you Echo Lawrence!
      • joeydoo, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2200G for a fraction of a second isn't as impressive as 12G for several seconds.
      • alpha88, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1What about "sustained 46.2 g"?
    • crapmatic, on 07/27/2008, -1/+13I've done 7 Gs several times in a T-38 jet (no, not as a pilot, just riding) and with a G suit it was extremely uncomfortable but not painful and I found I could put up with it. But anyone doing 9 Gs takes some balls, especially if they don't have G suits to keep the blood where it needs to be.

      As an aside, the pilot who flew me talked about the crews flying F-111 strike fighters... the terrain-following profiles of those jets means those pilots, if over rough topography, have to be able to deal with an assload of 5-7 G flying. I developed a whole new respect for those guys. The F-111 I don't think is in service anymore, though, I'm not sure what's replaced it but I think the B-1 has some overlap and probably does the same stuff.
    • mrblue182, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1That's what makes it amazing. That he is capable of withstanding it.
    • dhughes, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2 I think if you're in good shape you can survive high G maneuvers, and by good shape I mean your veins and arteries are in good shape which wouldn't be the case if you smoked or at a fatty diet (hardening of the arteries making them less flexible or 'brittle').

      The fact the force was downward is the big problem I would say since it's pulling blood from your brain, or negative G's the other way forcing it into your brain. As someone mentioned the rocketsled at 46Gs wasn't fatal since the force on the passenger was not up or down it was horizontal.

      I've flown a bit, many years ago, and even 1.5 or 2G is pretty impressive when you're in a small plane, you can feel your cheeks sag, and I do mean the ones on your face. It's amazing to think these pilots can stand that much force and still operate the controls of the plane!
  • martialartjesse, on 07/27/2008, -0/+25I was watching this on TV last night. It amazes me. Believe it or not they rarely crash, which I find astounding. Amazing pilots, I have never seen anything like it.
    • tgunner, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1I think that the pylons are inflated, so if they were to make contact with them, not much would happen.
      • crazycraka, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1...no *****? It'd be too dangerous to have them made of solid material like metal, wood, plastic or even rubber.
  • CanIGetAWitness, on 07/27/2008, -1/+1669.6G's, that would make his Brass Balls weigh 9600lbs.
  • DanPlainview, on 07/27/2008, -13/+5What a coincidence that the G force he experienced was exactly the same as the amount of money he made.
  • tazzydnc, on 07/27/2008, -2/+246Dude... why the hell is Nascar on TV and not this? I've never even seen plane racing before
    • gmiley, on 07/27/2008, -1/+62Yeah, I would actually watch this and enjoy it. I simply cannot stand nascar.
    • SpeedSteamBoat, on 07/27/2008, -0/+5I'm pretty sure this has been all over the Speed channel over the past couple of weeks. I watched a few hours of it last weekend if I'm not mistaken.
    • Ryvenn, on 07/27/2008, -1/+7Strange that this is regularly broadcast on Australian free-to-air daytime TV and not on American TV.
    • dsmx, on 07/27/2008, -0/+11It's also on british TV on saturdays at around 1pm.
    • SoxFan33, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1I was watching this a few days ago. If you live in America and have Comcast (I know, ***** comcast) check out Comcast Spots Net (Channel 52 for me) and you might find it.
    • shoover, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1It is one of the good shows actually available on Joost.
    • BTraina, on 07/27/2008, -1/+8plane racing: the white collar nascar.
    • poopdigger, on 07/27/2008, -0/+17This is far more interesting than watching a fleet of stock cars make 1000 left turns
    • zonk3r, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2Well you might not see it on TV but if you live around Reno, NV you can see an amazing air race later this year.

      Reno Air Races, September 10-14th
      http://www.airrace.org/
    • MaruLono, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1They held an air race in the San Diego Bay just a few months ago as well.
  • ehcropydoc, on 07/27/2008, -4/+13look at his face, he really isn't comfortable when he hits G's past 7
    • twiztidsinz, on 07/27/2008, -1/+8originally posted by cr250guy:
      "If you notice, his face makes really funny expressions and his breathing changes dramatically under intense G forces, which are signs of the techniques employed by skilled pilots to keep themselves conscious during periods of high stress."
    • OSuX, on 07/27/2008, -0/+3That's not the look of discomfort, that's the look of "hardcore".
  • yelnatz, on 07/27/2008, -11/+3HEE HOO HEE HOO
    • alpha88, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2For those burying, I believe he's trying to mimic the breathing technique used to sustain consciousness while at high G-forces.
  • jscnet, on 07/27/2008, -0/+18skills.
  • novemberwhiskey, on 07/27/2008, -14/+10That's awesome. Did you see him hyperventilating near the end of the race?

    I was watching this on TV and the pilots are going 200 mph+ in the race although it doesn't look that fast from the distance they are filming at.
    • novemberwhiskey, on 07/27/2008, -8/+1lol. Who gave me negatives for this post? and why?
      • atgmac, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Trying to understand what gets dugg and what gets buried is beyond the comprehension mere digg users like us. Only Kevin Rose fully understands the forces of thumbs up and down.
    • twiztidsinz, on 07/27/2008, -1/+4originally posted by cr250guy:
      "If you notice, his face makes really funny expressions and his breathing changes dramatically under intense G forces, which are signs of the techniques employed by skilled pilots to keep themselves conscious during periods of high stress."
      • novemberwhiskey, on 07/27/2008, -6/+0OK, that's cool but why the negatives?

        It's not like I made a negative comment. Just an observation.
      • Ryvenn, on 07/27/2008, -0/+3Wizard's First Rule: People are stupid.
    • huskerpower02, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2He's not hyperventilating, that is called controlled "pressured" breathing. Pilots do this to avoid black/red outs.

      To answer your second question, your lack of knowledge on the subject gave you the negatives reviews for your post.
      • novemberwhiskey, on 07/28/2008, -0/+0Controlled "pressured" breathing = hyperventilation = increasing the rate of exhaling C02 to flux bicarbonate levels in the blood to avoid black-outs.

        Lack of knowledge? LOL. Just a different way of saying it.

        Hey, I am doing "pressured breathing" right now so I don't pass out from the semantic whores.
    • novemberwhiskey, on 07/27/2008, -2/+0Negative 5 for inquiring why I got a negative in the first place?

      Looks like I picked up some fans on Digg.
  • T440, on 07/27/2008, -1/+22I didn't even know flying like that was possible.
  • mrhedges, on 07/27/2008, -1/+43This was a record for the event THAT year. Red Bull air races have had many pilots exceed 10Gs.
  • PabloMac, on 07/27/2008, -2/+79G's Louise.
  • paradox4190, on 07/27/2008, -10/+1He's trying to create a meme that was never meant to be from this thread.
    http://digg.com/tech_news/Digg_We_Have_a_Problem_P ...
    • Vodd9, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Doesn't it suck when you think you hit the button to reply to a certain thread, but instead post in the original comment thread.. Happened to me yesterday.
  • digitallysick, on 07/27/2008, -12/+2Very amazing this is the first time i have seen this, i am impressed!!! that guys has some 31337 skills
  • ABadPerson, on 07/27/2008, -3/+14So this is what my over priced soda is funding.
  • eltardo, on 07/27/2008, -1/+59Formula One racing car driver David Purley survived an estimated 179.8 g in 1977 when he decelerated from 173 km/h (108 mph) to rest over a distance of 66 cm (26 inches) after his throttle got stuck wide open and he hit a wall.

    David wins.
    • spkrcity, on 07/27/2008, -1/+24Holy *****, I thought 179.8 was a typo! Wiki confirms.

      EDIT: Whoa! He was also the guy who tried to save his friend in that burning car. A badass through and through.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Purley
      • BossKey, on 07/27/2008, -0/+4"Wiki confirms"

        Which means what exactly?
    • capo327, on 07/27/2008, -0/+20Here's the video of David Purley's attempt to save Roger Williams. It's one of the saddest videos I've ever seen.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRYPbiyhPLs
      • capo327, on 07/27/2008, -0/+3Roger Williamson, damn internet went down when I tried to correct it,
      • KiwiMark, on 07/27/2008, -0/+5That brought a tear to my eyes.
      • Cogboy, on 07/27/2008, -0/+5I've seen it before but I don't want to watch it now becuase its too sad. :(
        You get a digg from me anyway.
    • Scagli3tti, on 07/27/2008, -0/+7David Purley is without a doubt a badass (179.8g is to this day the highest ever endured by a human), but vertical axis g-force is an entirely different ballgame.
    • dyslexicsUNTIED, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1that is pretty ***** amazing in its own right, but he didnt have to keep complete control of an airplane doing a half loop while experiencing it.
  • gluesniffined, on 07/27/2008, -2/+17Absolutely insane G's. I've done some light aerobatics (loops, spins, aileron rolls, hammerhead stalls, cuban eights, etc.) and the highest I've ever pegged the G meter is 3.4. I can tell you that 3.4 G's is enough to give you a real heavy feeling and you can start to feel the skin on your face dripping down; I don't even want to think about 9.6 G's.....insane.

    In aerobatic planes the MX series are my favorites. Unfortunately I've never gotten my hands on one and have only done aerobatics in a Bellanca Decathlon which is rated to +6 -5 G's. The MXS is stressed for +/- 14 G's and it's two seat parent, the MX2 is stressed for +/- 12 G's.

    Then I think about the Blue Angels who routinely pull up to 7 G's with no G suits; that is real conditioning.
  • AngelBunny, on 07/27/2008, -1/+4wooo.. so does that mean if one weighed 100lbs then at 9.6 Gs that persons body would have to be strong enough to hold 960 pounds?!!?!?! O.o
    • spkrcity, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2It means 960 lbs of force would be distributed throughout their body. These guys condition their bodies and employ special breathing techniques to stay conscious. I've read that fighter pilots have special suits to prevent blood from being forced from the brain.
      • IAmSam14, on 07/27/2008, -0/+5Yeah, theyre called G suits, what they do is once fighter pilots start taking on G's the bottom half of the suit inflates to cut off circulation to the legs so it keeps all the blood in the upper half of your body and keeps you awake.
      • cyberfreak01, on 07/27/2008, -0/+6um, not quite cut off circulation but yeah, place pressure on the veins in the legs so that blood can't pool in the legs because the heart isn't strong enough to continue getting blood all the way to the brain. However even with these suit the pilots, and I'd have to assume the red bull contestants, don't just use breathing techniques but also flex their legs as almost a pump to help the blood to continue to flow correctly.
  • SaDisTiiC, on 07/27/2008, -18/+0WTF Video does not support iPhone?!?!?

    btw, safari on 2.0 crashed 5 times trying to post this!
    • Coven, on 07/27/2008, -2/+3buried for iPhone
    • piwy, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2You do realise that the iPhone does not support flash right?
  • drethedog, on 07/27/2008, -6/+2Balls....
  • goosegoosegoose, on 07/27/2008, -13/+1I did 11.6 Gs outside of Bangladesh last Fall under the team of White Fox. Look it up.
    • SpeedSteamBoat, on 07/27/2008, -0/+9Really? I thought you died after you and Maverick got caught in a flat spin and had to eject. Apparently you failed to "Watch the canopy!"

      That's what I heard, anyway.
  • santixar, on 07/27/2008, -1/+3Impresive
  • PostalBean, on 07/27/2008, -5/+2That guy is like a thin Jek Porkins.
  • rubixqube, on 07/27/2008, -0/+4A race was just on tv and someone pulled 11Gs...
  • RedOctober1992, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2what channel is this stuff on?? I always see the commercials for it but I've never seen the actual coverage. Until now. this is phenomenal!
  • Mmedia, on 07/27/2008, -8/+1Darn it I wanted to see the plane catch on fire and crash.
    Like these planes.....
    http://www.media-post.net/planesoops.php
  • AbeVigoda, on 07/27/2008, -7/+19I hit 25Gs when I take my morning poo.
  • ginogrz, on 07/27/2008, -1/+9I easily just had a 9.7G sneeze.
  • Qtip42, on 07/27/2008, -0/+5is this the coolest race event ever? I think so.
  • handheldchimp, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2Can someone compare this to something? Not sure how bad 9.6G's would be...
    • EtherGnat, on 07/27/2008, -0/+8Let's say you weight 180 pounds. 9.6Gs would be the equivalent of 1728 pounds of force distributed on your body. So go find five 346 lb. women to sit on you, and that would be about the same.
    • atgmac, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Like being simultaneously punched in the face and kicked in the balls.
  • shaunorman, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2Just watched the Rotterdam race and they were pulling in excess of 11G's. Each year it goes up to get faster times!
  • grneye53, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1You get me a couple of those pills they want to give pilots( the one Wall street brokers use) and a couple of RED BULLS and I'll show you how to hit 12G's !
    • OGTK423, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Or how to pass the ***** out and then crash into the sea, dieing miserably.
  • thegrantman, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Look at the slalom at 44 sec. Insane.
  • WHUFCIrons2, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2This is a fantastic event. I watch it on the television every time it's on. 9.6 G's has got to be some intense pressure. Well done to the pilots.
  • AgentOrn, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2These guys are some of the most amazing pilots, there planes are nothing short of aviation marvels.
  • rectifier, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1WTF! This is not possible.
  • chicaneuk, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2God those guys have balls of solid brass. Absolutely incredible!
  • boozedrinker, on 07/27/2008, -1/+3I was told that the Gravitron at the county fair does almost 10g. :-

    /sarcasm
  • ricerfuel, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Most people faint after 8Gs

    like in James Bond
  • ethon, on 07/27/2008, -2/+2http://youtube.com/watch?v=UUQaeMBaUbw

    Robert Kubica survived 75g of deceleration in this crash last year @ the Canadian GP
    • bobby2010, on 07/27/2008, -1/+3The G's you are talking of are called instantaneous g's and the one pulled by the pilot in red bull race are sustained g's.

      Human limit for sustained g's is 9-11
  • FuckXboxx, on 07/27/2008, -0/+4If I did that I'd have a 9.6 pound load of ***** in my britches.
  • limoo, on 07/27/2008, -2/+3FWIW, the helmet of a fighter jet pilot does NOT weigh 20 lb. And for the reasons you stated (high G maneuvers). Helmets typically weigh about 4 lb, even with all the high-tech whizz-bang gadgetry. Even then, it's 40lbs on your head and neck, but thankfully, that's only for a couple of seconds.
  • victor22, on 07/27/2008, -1/+4And I tough my 3G iPhone was badass...
  • wlewis12, on 07/27/2008, -0/+2This is better than Nascar, that's why it's popular in the entire world, and they'll hit 10 g's even.
  • Virgule, on 07/27/2008, -0/+9See what pulling high G is like. Thats no walk in the park.

    Centrifuge 9 G Profile training test. He passed brilliantly.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rQexWEwV6M

    Another 9 G training test. I think he failed for lasting less than 10 seconds.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADCmX-_ZZKo

    My favorite. A Blue Angel pilot take someone aboard for a ride. He passed out all the time :P. Unknown amount of G pulled.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9tc6oP5Lo8

    Lastly, a near drama. The pilot blacked out after a high G break and nearly lawn darted. The altitude is at the top right corner. From over 8000 feet to about 40 feet in a blink.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBCS1hxCeN0
    • ericshuff85, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1i couldn't stop laughing at the guy passing out all the time.

      "steve, are you with me?"
    • MattSkiX13, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1his last line was priceless...
      "Woo! That was a long one..."

      i lol'd so hard at that.
    • elshizzo, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1I'm surprised stuff like the last video doesn't happen more often.
  • MoneyShot, on 07/27/2008, -0/+120 pound helmet? I don't think so.
  • tweetsa, on 07/27/2008, -5/+0that's nothing. I am an f22 pilot and I was once chasing an iraqi f15 then he got behind me and I started scissoring and I pulled over 25g's
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