Weightlessness

[propwash866]

Can anyone offer me some assistance in answering a question that has bugged me for a while:
I'm military aircrew and as such have had the pleasure of doing a lot of aerobatic flying as part of the training, a lot of which involving some period of 0G flight. Under these conditions (as I'm sure some of you will know) you simply feel like you're floating. However, roller coasters and fairground attractions that subject people to 0G are accompanied by a feeling of stomach being left behind! Can anyone explain how supposedly very similar experiences produce such different reactions?

[Paracab]

A non-technical answer....

Could it be that 0G in a rollercoaster is incurred suddenly causing the unpleasant stomach left behind feeling whereas in-flight it comes on slightly more gradually (in my experience) and therefore you don't get that effect ?

Just a thought, I may well be wide of the mark, and await correction...

[mazzy1026]

Paracab - that would have been my guess too - a roller coaster cant half throw youa round in such a small amount of space, going from positive to negative G quite rapid, thus giving your stomach a beating, whereas like you say, aeros can be more smooth.

Regards

Maz

[Empty Cruise]

Or...maybe the lack of close-up visual cues when doing aero leaves you without the sensory feedback tha can produce that "stomach-left-behind"-feeling that 0G rollercoasters do.

I like rollercoasters very much - and it's certainly part of the thrill to watch the ground/scenery/whatever going past at an impressive speed

Brgds,
Empty

[simfly]

Occasionally when I used to practice autorotations in Schweizer (?) 300's, if I dropped the collective fast enough I could get that feeling your're talkin about. I agree with above, I think it's the sudden drop on a rollercoaster that's to blame, just like going over a dip in the road, and even sometimes in heavy turbulence.....

[Loose rivets]

You may be surprised to learn the g's that some modern fairground rides subject their customers to. +4.5 and - 2.5 was mentioned on a television program a while back, and yes, the transition is quicker than a smoothly executed maneuver in an aircraft... unless you are being very competitive of course.

[MobiusTrip]

In the aeroplane, you are controlling when the zero 'g' happens - in the roller coaster you are not - perhaps it is some sort of 'expectation' thing? Never really thought about it 'till you mentioned it just then, but now you have me thinking!

Cheers,

MT

[Old Smokey]

Mobius Trip, you got a hole in one. It's all about being in control.

[2close]

Maybe some frequent users of the old roller-coaster could enlighten us here, with the effects felt when in the (1) staring, eyes agape, s**t scared, mode compared to the (2) 'Oh my God, why me?', eyes super-glued shut mode.

Do the lack of visual references produce a different result?

Me? I'm in the Electrician First Class league when it comes to roller coasters (Two feet full earth). The aerodynamic qualities of the buggy have never really appealed to me.

I'm off down the country lanes to test this on the humpty-backed bridge.

Best Regards,

2close.

[Gingerbread Man]

I think it depends on the rate of acceleration. Although the G in an aircraft can change rapidly, a rollercoaster's G may change even more quickly because you are being snatched around a very tight track. If your stomach, and all other organs come to think of it, are suspended under 1g and then suddenly are free to move where they want, you are bound to get a strange sensation. If this happens more gradually then the sensation may not be as pronounced.
Another possibility may be that on the rollercoaster you are being pushed through to some negative g, and 0g is only felt for a split second. It would be the negative g that would make you feel strange, I would have thought. I've only done a few aerobatic flights, but I always thought the negative g was comparable to jumping of a diving board - the sensation of falling and the instinctive panic and adrenalin rush associated with it.
Or it may just be that you're a tough, hard-ass fighter jock who isn't bothered by little things like longitudinal acceleration .

Kind Regards. Ginge

[Didn't realise most of this had been said above. Apologies]