Tom Scott Briefly Loses Consciousness in a Royal Air Force Centrifuge Due to Low G-Force Tolerance

During a visit with the Royal Air Force, YouTuber Tom Scott headed over to the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine to take a look at the training centrifuge, a mandatory exercise for any pilot wishing to serve Queen and Country. Being the experimental soul he is, Tom happily volunteered to go for a literal spin in order to get first hand knowledge of the experience. All was going well until Scott briefly lost consciousness within the capsule due to his low G-Force tolerance.

At the Royal Air Force training centrifuge in Farnbrough, pilots learn how to avoid G-LOC: g-induced loss of consciousness. Let’s talk about g-force, about jerk, and about how to keep circulation flowing to your brain. …Turns out I would not qualify to be a fighter pilot. The average range for g-tolerance is 4-6; no-one was expecting me to pass out. The centrifuge team do not deliberately try to G-LOC people! To be fair, though, I’d done a few earlier runs with only minor effects.