Does anyone know.....

S

sandar

Guest
When pressing the shift z keys twice to bring up the the frame rate, there is another number, on my PC, usually 1.0 Gs, it normally fluctuates between 0.9 and 1.3 Gs. What is Gs? what does it signify and what is a good number?
 
It is the Gravitational Acceleration. In short, you're sat in front of your monitor, you are subject to the force of gravity, exercised by the planet on your body (and in lesser measure from your body on the planet as well, but I digress...) that allows you to stay on your seat and not to fly around like the people in the Shuttle when in orbit. When a force is applied to your seat (say, you're in a car) an acceleration on one of the axis happens. If the car is a sport car and can pull high accelerations, you feel it because it plasters you deep in the seat.

Same in an airplane, seen that it's a dynamic machine, if you pull a tight turn, you're subjected to a force that can add to the planet's gravitational pull, or can pull you in another way.

If the acceleration in positive, then it adds to the planet's gravity and makes you heavier, if it's negative then it subtracts from the planet's gravity and makes you lighter. The measure unit of the Gravitation Acceleration is the G (no relation to points with the same name in the female anatomy). :icon_lol:

Great loads of G acceleration can be a problem for pilots, like the pilots in the fighters, who must execute tight turns to avoid interception, especially in a dogfight.
 
yeah fighter pilots regularly pull upwards of 7G's, in effect this is the same as seven times the force of gravity acting on your body, it forces blood to your head with negative G and drains blood from the top half and puts it lower with Positive G's. in effect try weighing something simple, i always use dumbells for this as it shows the increase nicely, lets say you have 2kg on the dumbell, lift it up.... piece of cake, thats the 1G, 2G it'd be 4kg, still easy, get to 7-9G and see how long you can keep your arm outstretched, thats how a pilot would be feeling if reaching for something in a tight, Max rate turn :icon_lol:
 
OK, Thanks guys, I wasn't thinking along those lines. :redf: I was thinking it was something to do with graphics.:bump:

I know quite alot about G forces and what they can do to the body, compression fractures in several vertabrae and ruptured discs remind me every day (and all night long)
 
yeah, i do a lot of parachuting and going from 129mph in freefall to about 40 boy that wakes you up, especially given a certain strap location :icon_lol: you really do decellerate rapidly, but that'll never stop me doing it :ernae:
 
Of the two types of 'chute I have worn, the old style one with the quick release buckle, was the most uncomfortable to wear. That loop that passed between your legs to pass the thigh straps through, made it look like the wearer had a bulky cod piece on :icon_lol:. The more modern life saver type used by glider pilots, which has three independant buckles,one across the chest, and one each round the thighs, never filled me with confidence, mine only had an 18' canopy and me a mere slip of a lad at 15 stone. I later bought an ex military supply 'chute witha 45' canopy.

All that said, jumping out of a perfectly servicable aeroplane doesn't, nor ever has, appealed to me.
 
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