BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)<br /> Pic: PhilYeomans/BNPS<br /> <br /> The control room.<br /> <br /> Sci-fi 'Centrifuge' to open its doors to the public after 64 years...<br /> <br /> A remarkable Cold War relic which has put thousands of pilots through their G-force paces has made its final spin after six decades. <br /> <br /> The Top Secret building at the former RAE Farnborough test site is now open to the public for guided tours led by the scientists from FAST who used to work there.<br /> <br /> The Farnborough Centrifuge was used to simulate huge 9G forces - nine times more than a human body is designed to absorb - they would encounter while flying fast jets during combat operations.<br /> <br /> The pilot would sit in a small compartment replicating a cockpit at the end of the 60ft rotating arm and be propelled at over 60mph, spinning 30 times a minute.<br /> <br /> A staggering 122,133 tests were performed on it before it was decommissioned in March this year, with a new centrifuge installed at RAF Cranwell.<br /> <br /> It featured on an episode of Top Gear in 2000 when Jeremy Clarkson had a go on it at 3G, leaving him in obvious discomfort. He described the force exerted on him as like 'having an elephant sat on my chest'.<br /> <br /> The centrifuge, which is being displayed for the public for the first time, also appeared in the 1985 comedy film Spies Like Us starring Chevy Chase and Dan Ackroyd.
{}