FULL CONCENTRATION: Swiss military pilots like Jürg Niemeyer (l.) must complete many missions. Among other things, they provide support in search and rescue operations, take aerial shots, and hunt for fugitive criminals THE BODY IS THE LIMIT Military pilots need a well-trained physique to maintain control under extreme conditions – sometimes they are exposed to forces up to nine times the acceleration produced by the earth’s gravitational field. At the Swiss Air Force’s Aeromedical Center, Dräger supports them with a testing and training unit. TEXT TOBIAS HÜRTER PHOTOS PATRICK OHLIGSCHLÄGER 66 DRÄGER REVIEW 120 | 2 / 2019 MILITARY PILOTS Aeromedical Center. The pilots come seven people so that the pilots always here for health-related reasons. They have somebody to speak to. The initial are thoroughly examined before they health-related focus was on strengthen- he military air base in Düben- are accepted by the squadrons. In ing the cardio vascular system. T dorf has a great history. Swiss aviation addition, they must undergo annual Military flying places the heart under began here at the start of the 20th cen- tests to make sure they are still mentally a great deal of stress. When the plane tury. This is where the physicist and and physically fit enough to perform climbs, the blood sinks. The heart must inventor Auguste Piccard took off on his their extremely demanding job. They also significantly increase the resting blood legendary balloon flight into the strato- receive health advice at the center and pressure in order to be able to continue to sphere, and this is also where Allied are able to train. supply the brain with oxygen, otherwise planes landed that had been damaged there is a danger of the feared G-LOC – a by gunfire during World War II. The vast NO BLACKOUTS blackout – which can quickly cost pilots site near Zurich remains an important Dräger has been managing the center’s their lives in a supersonic plane. That is base for the Swiss Air Force to this day. testing and training unit since 2004. It is why they use centrifuges to build up their Light and heavy-lift helicopters regular- run by Sven Rochelt, product manager at resistance to high acceleration and wear ly take off from here on sorties and train- Dräger. The sports scientist devised the anti-G trousers, which use compression ing flights. The PC-7 aerobatic squadron initial concept when the Swiss Air Force to prevent blood from accumulating in is also stationed here. launched the public tendering process the legs. However, an essential part of the dai- to award the contract for the unit. At Aeromedical physicians explain it as ly lives of the Swiss military pilots plays the beginning, he managed the unit from follows: The blood vessels in the arms, out not in the hangars of Dübendorf, Germany, but after a few years he moved legs, and stomach suddenly dilate under but a five-minute drive away – at the to Zurich. He is supported by a team of extreme acceleration. Even though the STRONG BACK: How long can pilot Jürg Niemeyer maintain this position? Dräger employee Janine Rochelt times him DRÄGER REVIEW 120 | 2 / 2019 67 MILITARY PILOTS PILOTS NEED A STRONG PHYSIQUE TO MAINTAIN A CLEAR HEAD IN CRITICAL SITUATIONS heart powerfully pumps the blood at a a weight of over 70 kilos pulls on it. As strength, Sven Rochelt recommends that rate of between 190 and 200 bpm, it is no such, it is the job of the 200 Swiss full- pilots and anyone else who does sport longer able to supply the parts of the body time military pilots to undergo a health should regularly “roll out” the muscles above the rib cage. As a result, there is a check at least once a year in the rooms of with foam rollers and fascia massage lack of blood in the brain. The blackout is the testing and training unit at the Aero- balls to keep the muscle fibers supple. the last brief warning sign before uncon- medical Center. The 40-year-old helicopter pilot Jürg Nie- sciousness. Even though the pilot can still meyer comes to train here once a week. hear, they are unable to react. Untrained REGULAR TRAINING It is not difficult for the son of a German people would immediately lose conscious- The employees of Dräger’s vital manage- father and Swiss mother to keep himself ness in an agile fighter jet. It is apparent, ment team test the strength of the pilots fit – in summer he rides his racing bike however, that the cardiovascular system not with heavy weights, but primari- and in winter he does cross-country ski- is not the most critical component of the ly with isometric and dynamic exercis- ing in the Zurich highlands. pilot’s physique. Even more important es. For instance, they get them to do a Niemeyer originally flew tamer are strong muscles, particularly in the side plank on a mat or stretch out their planes as a commercial pilot for Swissair, back and neck. legs horizontally while laying face down but the airline ceased operations right at The Boeing F/A-18 Hornet intercep- on a box – and time them with a stop- the end of his training period. Niemey- tor jet exposes the pilots to forces up to watch to see how long they can hold this er applied to the air force and passed the nine times the acceleration produced by position. The results are then evaluat- entrance tests. That is how he came to the earth’s gravitational field, although ed to establish how they have changed wear the green flying suit of the Swiss such extreme values are seldom produced since the last test and work out whether Army – which bears his nickname in training, because they not only take a the training needs to be modified. The “Nimi” – rather than the blue uniform lot out of the crew, but also the aircraft. pilots can then implement the recom- of an airline pilot. There is a tradition Nonetheless, the pilots must be able to mendations just next door in the unit’s among military pilots of using nicknames withstand such forces in an emergency training center, which is equipped with to address each other. One day, Niemeyer situation. The neck muscles must keep free weights, cable crossover machines, was presented with a form on which he the five-kilo head and three-kilo hel- TRX bands, gym balls, and endurance had to select one of two options for his met stable while a force equivalent to machines. In addition to building up career as a pilot – either jet or helicopter. PRECISELY PLANNED: Dräger employees use the test results to draw up recommendations for the pilots’ training MENTAL SKILLS: The pilots also take cognitive tests while deprived of oxygen 68 DRÄGER REVIEW 120 | 2 / 2019 HEAVYWEIGHT FLYER: The Aérospatiale AS 332 has a maximum takeoff weight of nine metric tons He opted for the helicopter. Flying jets things, they support Rega ( Switzerland’s may be more spectacular, but it mainly air rescue service) in search and rescue involves training. Even though the heli- operations, take aerial shots for maps, copter pilots don’t have to endure any- hunt for fugitive criminals, and escort where near the same acceleration levels high- ranking politicians. as their jet-powered colleagues, the vib- rations and longer missions are no less SEARCH MISSION IN A STORM stressful for them. The squadron to which Niemeyer especially remembers one dra- Niemeyer belongs flies in the Aérospatiale matic operation – the search for a Ger- AS 332 medium-lift helicopter also known man doctor who had got into difficulty as the Super Puma. It has a maximum on a mountain in the region known as takeoff weight of nine metric tons, inclu- Appenzeller Land. They flew for over an ding one and a half tons of fuel. Niemeyer hour through the storm, rain, and thick and his comrades use the helicopters to clouds in a helicopter equipped with fly a wide range of missions. Among other an infrared search system and a strong DRÄGER REVIEW 120 | 2 / 2019 69 MILITARY PILOTS PERFECT POSITION: The pilots spend a great deal of time doing TRX suspension training AT ALTITUDE IN THE BASEMENT: The Aeromedical Center is home to Switzerland’s only hypoxia chamber HUMANS ARE THE LIMITING FACTOR IN THE AIRCRAFT searchlight. He had to make the decision Kunz took over the management of the 20,000 meters, although used up to 9,000 to abandon the search, otherwise he center in 2010, he noticed that the pilots meters. would have endangered his own life and tended to shy away from going there. those of his colleagues on board. They were almost always examined here COMPLEX DEMANDS This story illustrates what Niemey- to test their suitability for service. “We This is where the pilots can gain vital expe- er calls the key skills of a good pilot: wanted to show them that we not only rience of how the deficiency symptoms situation awareness and decision- want to examine them, but also support associated with extreme altitude feel. In making. They are mental skills. Yet a them above all else.” other words, they learn how to remain strong mind can only function in a strong Kunz promoted an open, integrative alert when a lack of oxygen disorients the body. The long search mission in the feedback culture, expanded the medi- brain and the high concentrations of car- storm took the well-trained Niemeyer to cal support, and made visits to the air bon dioxide in the blood trigger feelings the edge of his physical capabilities.