Outfitting a Fighter Pilot

  • By Lexi Krock
  • Posted 11.01.07
  • NOVA

With their steely nerves and cool demeanor, fighter pilots seem born to fly. Yet in today's combat airplanes, which fly at up to 60,000 feet and more than 1,875 miles per hour, a pilot would quickly black out without his flight gear. In this interactive, find out what an F-15 fighter pilot wears in the air and what he carries in case he must eject.

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A pilot's gear is a sophisticated support system that can save his life in deadly situations.

Lexi Krock is a former associate editor of NOVA Online. This feature originally appeared, in slightly different form, on NOVA's Battle of the X-Planes website.

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© NOVA/WGBH Educational Foundation

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