When we feel an acceleration, we interpret it as the effects of a force. In fact

Question

When we feel an acceleration, we interpret it as the effects of a force. In fact, one of Einstein’s postulates of relativity was that without having a frame of reference to tell the difference, gravity is indistinguishable from simple acceleration.

Jet fighters are launched off of aircraft carriers at extremely high acceleration with help from a catapult. Fighter pilots are warned that they will feel a compulsion to push the stick downward during takeoff and that they should ignore it; yet sometimes pilots crash their jets directly into the ocean anyway.

Draw a Free Body Diagram of the forces a pilot may feel in his or her seat, consider any interesting resultants, and make an argument for why a pilot may feel compelled to steer the plane downward. (You may have also experienced this phenomenon while riding in a commercial airliner.)

Explanation / Answer

there is a downward force on the pilots body as a result of gravity. there are little hairs in some fluid in your ears which sense the direction in which these hairs are hanging and tell the brain which direction is downward. under normal circumstances (such as accleration of a car) these hairs are forced backward by the acceleration, but the stimula of the eyes makes a correction for this movement of the hairs, so the brain does not think that the body is tilting backward. however, while taking off from a catapult, there is little by which the eye can judge the speed. now, i don't have my book handy, so these numbers are guess estimates as i'm hoping to recall them correctly, but essentially if you are accelerated at 85 m/s^2, then your little hairy friends make your brain think that you are tilting back at a 76 degree angle, which is incredibly steep. since there is no visual stimuli to let the pilot note that what he's feeling isn't accurate, the pilot feels like he's tipping back , and attempts to correct and keep the plane straight by nosing down into the ocean.

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