AnthonyGA
17th May 2010, 19:10
I know next-to-nothing about military aviation, but I figure somebody here can answer a question I've been mulling over for a while.
I know that fighter pilot trainees have to go through things like centrifuge exercises to make sure they can withstand G forces, but do they also get screen for potentially dangerous brain lesions? For example, are they checked to make sure they don't have any brain aneurysms that could rupture when subjected to strong G forces? Some people have such lesions and live throughout life with no problems, since the lesions are never put under stress, but pulling many negative Gs could be enough to kill someone with an undiscovered aneurysm. So does the military check for this in advance? (It would have to be done before any centrifuge exercises, obviously.)
I know that fighter pilot trainees have to go through things like centrifuge exercises to make sure they can withstand G forces, but do they also get screen for potentially dangerous brain lesions? For example, are they checked to make sure they don't have any brain aneurysms that could rupture when subjected to strong G forces? Some people have such lesions and live throughout life with no problems, since the lesions are never put under stress, but pulling many negative Gs could be enough to kill someone with an undiscovered aneurysm. So does the military check for this in advance? (It would have to be done before any centrifuge exercises, obviously.)