US man gets the chance to fly in an F-16 Viper and 9Gs push his body to the limit in 'most violent' flight

A US man has taken to the skies in an F-16 Viper, one of the fastest and most powerful fighter jets ever built, experiencing up to 9Gs of force in what he described as the ‘most violent’ flight of his life.

The experience pushed his body to the edge of consciousness as he battled to stay awake and not pass out during one of the most extreme airplane demonstrations in the world.

YouTuber Sam Eckholm, a former U.S. Air Force public affairs officer, was invited to fly with the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team led by Major Taylor “FEMA” Hiester for a high-intensity airshow routine.

Inside the cockpit, he faced nine times the force of gravity, a level of pressure that can cause even trained pilots to black out.

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The power of the F-16 Viper

First flown in 1974, the F-16 was designed as a lightweight, agile dogfighting airplane that later evolved into a multi-role combat jet used by more than 25 countries.

Capable of going supersonic in under a minute, its engine produces over 30,000 pounds of thrust, burning nearly two gallons of fuel every second during afterburner.

Hiester’s aircraft, finished in a striking 50th anniversary paint makeover, remains fully combat-ready.

It can carry six missiles and a cannon, and during demonstrations, it’s flown ‘clean,’ without tanks, to show off its pure maximum manoeuvrability.

9Gs of pure adrenaline in a ‘violent flight’

The flight began with a full afterburner takeoff, pushing past 600 mph immediately and climbing thousands of feet in seconds.

Over the next 20 minutes, Eckholm endured a series of brutal manoeuvres, including Cuban eights, triple rolls, and knife-edge passes, before the grand finale, a 20-second sustained 9G turn.

At that moment, blood drained from his head, his vision narrowed, and his body felt like it was being crushed.

However, he remained conscious, completing one of the most extreme aerobatic experiences imaginable while staying awake, a difficult feat for even the most experienced of fighter pilots.

For Major Hiester, it was just another day in the office, but for Eckholm, it was the ultimate test of endurance, a once-in-a-lifetime flight that proved just how violently powerful (and a little bit scary) the F-16 Viper really is.

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