Marcus Wandt visit FMV Flight Test Centre
Marcus Wandt is a Swedish astronaut and the first to join the European Astronauts Corps as an ESA project astronaut. After his mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in January 2024 he is back on Earth, working as a test pilot. He spends a lot of time in the air flying the Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft.
Every five years Marcus will, as every fighter pilot, undergo a refresher Anti-G Training (AGT) course. The purpose is to secure that the pilot still can manage the G-forces during maneuvering a high performance fighter aircraft.
The training is performed in the Dynamic Flight Simulator operated by the FMV Flight Test Centre in Linköping, Sweden.
The DFS is a centrifuge that can replicate all the G-forces of the latest generation of fast jet aircraft. However the DFS at FMV is more than a centrifuge creating high Gs as it also provides a fighter like cockpit and a basic fighter aircraft flight model. This means that the pilot can fly the during the test versus just sit along and be exposure to the G-forces.
The Swedish Air Force has experienced aeromedical instructors on site to teach the Anti-G Straining Manoeuvre (AGSM) which will help Marcus to endure G-forces up to 9G. This time Marcus was trained by Capt. Johan Ekblad. During the training the G-levels are gradually increased in a very safe and predictable way with different G-profiles.
Marcus managed to fly the simulator at 9G for significantly longer time than the required 15 seconds, proving his excellent anti-G straining technique. He was then able to fly the simulator in a more realistic way to replicate a highspeed combat mission with the JAS 39 Gripen. The training session was over after 20 minutes of hard work and it was followed by a debriefing with Capt. Johan Ekblad.