Abu Dhabi: Red Bull Air Race championship unveiled a revolutionary 'G-Race Suit' to provide extra protection for pilots during the Abu Dhabi leg of the 2009 championship series.
Over the last two days of action in the skies, the 15 pilots wore a new high-tech flight suit that helped them to cope better with the high G-forces they were subjected to when racing.
Deveoped by the Red Bull Air Race's Research & Development team in Salzburg, the tight-fitting G-Race Suit contains special liquid-filled tubes which change shape under G-Forces, contracting the special non-stretch fabric and putting pressure on the lower extremities of the body to ensure that oxygen-rich blood remains in the head. This, together with interactive muscle straining and breathing techniques, provides the pilot with maximum G-protection.
According to a press release from the race organisers, the aim of the G-Race Suit is to help shield Red Bull Air Race pilots from the debilitating forces that can reach up to 12G, if only briefly, when they are manoeuvring their planes between the Air Gates and particularly during the high speed turns around the track.
"The system can provide instantaneous G-force protection for the race pilot thanks to the revolutionary design which will give the pilots a new tool in the battle against G-forces," says Red Bull Air Race's Dirk Eckhardt, who leads the project.
Normally, an increase in G-forces causes blood to flow from a pilot's brain towards his feet. With the G-Race Suit, four liquid-filled tubes - called "Fluid Muscles" - cause the non-stretch fabric to contract the instant that G-forces occur. That way oxygen-rich blood stays in the pilot's upper body and head instead of rushing downwards. No extra regulators or switches as used in conventional pneumatic anti-G suits are needed.
"The goal is to further optimise the already high safety standards of the Red Bull Air Race. We want to find a way to help the pilots keep their focus on flying and on the sport itself and reduce the distracting effects of high Gs," said Eckhardt.
