History
As early as 1917, there were documented cases of pilots' loss of consciousness due to g (G-LOC) that were referred to as "fainting in the air".
In 1931 a professor of physiology, Frank Cotton, from the University of Sydney described a new way of determining the center of gravity of the human body. This made it possible to describe the displacement of mass within the body under acceleration.
With the development of higher speed monoplane fighters in the late 1930s, acceleration forces during combat became more severe. As early as 1940 some German aircraft had foot-rests above the rudder pedals so that the pilot's feet and legs could be raised during combat in an attempt to minimize the negative effects of high speed turns. Large rudder deflections were often not necessary during such manoeuvres, but being able to cut inside the opponent's turning radius was.
Read more about this topic: G-suit
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