PopSciās Rob Verger recently flew in an F-16 fighter jet with the Air Forceās elite demonstration team, the Thunderbirds. And though he was grateful for the chance to take to the skies with them, it did not go well for himāhe threw up three times during and after the flight.
So in the weeks since he landed, Rob couldnāt help but wonder: why did the flight kick his butt so hard, while professional pilots seem to have no problems enduring all the forces of the jet?
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Producer/Video by: Jason Lederman
Narrator/Researcher: Rob Verger
Cameras:
Canon EOS C100 ā
Canon EOS 5D Mark III ā
Additional equipment:
Canon EF50mm Lens ā
Canon Zoom Lens EF24-105mm ā
Sachtler Ace XL Tripod System ā
Sennheiser EW100ENG G3 Camera Wireless Mic Kit ā
Litepanels Astra E 1Ć1 Daylight LED Panel ā
Lowepro Magnum 650 AW Shoulder Bag ā
The North Face Base Camp Duffel ā
Music: APM Music
Special Thanks: U.S. Air Force, The Air Force Thunderbirds, Maj. Jason āFlackā Markzon
Media: Department of Defense, NASA, Wikimedia Commons, Pixabay, archive.org, Prelinger Archives, Looney Tunes (1943) Warner Bros.
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#usairforce #usaf #thunderbirds #f16 #popsci #popularscience #f16 #f16d #usafthunderbirds
Ivory
August 1, 2019 at 10:40 am
Wow! Thatās insane! Now I have so much more respect for air shows! Thanks for sharing!
@ivorydelights
August 1, 2019 at 6:40 am
Wow! Thatās insane! Now I have so much more respect for air shows! Thanks for sharing!
JogBird
August 1, 2019 at 10:59 am
Fighter pilots need to be very physically fit
@JogBird
August 1, 2019 at 6:59 am
Fighter pilots need to be very physically fit
Q T
August 1, 2019 at 11:38 am
jeez i donāt blame you for getting ur ass kicked lol
Don't, Jimm
August 1, 2019 at 11:45 am
Wow!
@jimmyshrimbe9361
August 1, 2019 at 7:45 am
Wow!
alex3261
August 1, 2019 at 12:17 pm
You got it right only in the end, as it is the motion sickness that makes you throw up, not the g force. The small sensors in the internal ear transmit to the brain information that is different from that coming from the eyes, and hereās where the trouble starts. This is why there are air sickness bags in airliners, wgere the g forces are negligible. The only sensible g force influence is during the negative gās, when the content of your stomach is being pushed up an can trigger vomiting.
awesomesauce666
August 2, 2019 at 1:01 am
didnāt know that fighter pilots did butt clenches.
boonmouche
August 4, 2019 at 11:19 pm
Oh yes, a lot! Keeps you conscious which is a very useful thing.
marshmallowbudgie
September 1, 2019 at 1:04 am
Kegelingās useful for so so many things
Jeremy Reger
August 4, 2019 at 10:43 pm
I flew in an F15 and puked 3 times haha and pulled 8.2Gs ????
@JRegerWVOH
August 4, 2019 at 6:43 pm
I flew in an F15 and puked 3 times haha and pulled 8.2Gs š
Wagner Gitirana
August 6, 2019 at 9:47 pm
Oh man, you are lucky. I wished I would get this experience. If you would control your breath and body muscle, youād never vomit. I want to go on this ride!!! :))
@wagnergitirana
August 6, 2019 at 5:47 pm
Oh man, you are lucky. I wished I would get this experience. If you would control your breath and body muscle, youād never vomit. I want to go on this ride!!! :))
j mcmann
November 1, 2019 at 1:34 pm
Consider its a 1970s design š
j mcmann
November 1, 2019 at 1:35 pm
He forgot to mention with heavy G forces come ..hemorrhoids
@Chrisprara
January 23, 2020 at 9:55 pm
āaround 155lbā yeah bullshit lmao.
@chadlau3106
April 5, 2020 at 11:54 am
can you tell us how much it cost to get this flying experience ? i have FAA license though
@drdrift8787
May 12, 2020 at 3:06 am
Chad Lau they give media rides to journalists/reporters. The whole point of demo squads is to show people what they can do after all, so they want journalists involved.
@soccerguy2433
April 7, 2020 at 10:37 pm
So you hadāzero fun, sir!ā ?
@mzamroni
May 29, 2021 at 4:22 am
But too much Gs
@mauronobili327
October 11, 2020 at 1:39 pm
thank you for sharing
@i4detail
February 11, 2021 at 2:05 pm
i really would love the visual experience but i know Iād puke constantlyā¦ kudos to you! thx for sharing, great view from inside the canopy. keep it up!
@marshkid1
May 21, 2021 at 1:45 pm
Did you take dramadine or anything?
@alan30189
October 3, 2021 at 8:28 pm
This would have been a good video if we didnāt have to put up with the annoying background music throughout the video. Geez.
Figher pilots get to that level over time. They would probably puke too, if they never flew in an F-16 and had to sustain 6 gās.
@jeremycook4670
October 6, 2021 at 4:09 am
I smoke three packs a day and I still say ābreak er damn wings off sonā not because Iām trying to breathe right just trying to keep my a**hole from falling out.
@MG2318-r6u
October 6, 2021 at 12:58 pm
The human body is delicate compared to machinery.
That is why unmanned drones are the new airforce.
A drone can spin and turn so fast it would make mush out of the body of a pilot.
āSpam in the Canā.
@MG2318-r6u
October 6, 2021 at 1:12 pm
P.S. There is nothing to stop a ummanned drone from spinning as fast as a car engine.
@gruivis
April 24, 2022 at 11:31 am
I already know I would toss my cookies before the ride is over. You couldnāt pay me to take that punishment. š¤Ŗ
@briandavis849
July 4, 2022 at 2:34 pm
wuss
@lunchbox1553
November 2, 2022 at 8:37 pm
So, how did your first flight without any prior training in an F-16 go?
@lunchbox1553
November 3, 2022 at 9:55 am
@briandavis849 7Gs with no training and youāre ok? I doubt that. Youād need to at least know how to breathe, unless it wasnāt sustained.
@andrebonneau9919
November 3, 2022 at 1:15 pm
whereās the ejection seat sequence?
@pavloskairis9994
April 18, 2023 at 11:20 am
Pilots have scrambled eggs for breakfast. Why? ā¦ because they taste the same way going in or coming out.
@kzzzkt-lost
March 27, 2024 at 6:05 am
Educational and awesome footage!
@dirtrider88
April 5, 2024 at 11:34 pm
quick question, is an air force f 16 different than a civilian f 16?
@limabravo6065
March 29, 2025 at 1:33 am
I got a rride in one of these as an incentive ride for good performance while in the air force. I couldnt understand why the pilot was grinning at me so muchā¦ until we got airborne. I swear the landing gear had just been stowed when he punched the warp drive and we went into a vertical climb and i had an elephant swan dive onto my chest. Coolest thing was going supersonic out over the pacific ocean because its like barely contained chaos and then silky smooth. And that aircraft in particular is just mental, designed to be unstable, its like a flying death machine with the personality of a methhead. And seeing how little the stick actually moves broke my head a little. Oh and i didnt puke, definitely lost consciousness twice but i didnt get sick mostly because i didnt want to have to clean the thing afterwards