Flight Lieutenant Dan Simmons of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, zips up his g-pants before climbing into his Hawk jet. G-pants counterac the effects of high gravity stresses that jet-fighters impose on the human body, automatically inflating and squeezing blood back to the thorax and head when blood drains towards the legs. As he attaches the zipper, he rests his straight right leg on a retractable step which helps him and his ground crew engineers to gain access to the cockpit, high above the ground. Hanging from another part of his airplane is his life-vest which he will wear around his neck, whilst in flight. Flight Lieutenant Simmons wears heavy-duty black boots which are regulation footwear for flying personnel and dressed in his red flying suit that is famous around the world.
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