Dr. Wilbur Franks was a Canadian medical researcher, known for inventing the world’s first anti-gravity suit (also known as a G-suit or anti-G suit) used in combat. A G-suit is a flight suit used by pilots and astronauts to protect from black-out (loss of consciousness) during flight maneuvers. In addition to that ground-breaking accomplishment, he was also a well-regarded cancer researcher at the Banting and Best Medical Research Institute at the University of Toronto (U of T).
Wilbur Rounding Franks was born on March 4 1901, in Weston, Ontario. He earned his Bachelor of Arts at Victoria College in 1924 and graduated from medical school at the University of Toronto in 1928. Dr. Franks went on to train in cancer research under the supervision of Sir Frederick Banting, Nobel laureate and co-discoverer of insulin. Franks was among a group of young scientists in Banting’s Department of Medical Research at the University, which today is known as the Donnelly Centre.
In 1938, Dr. Banting became interested in the medical problems associated with flight. He established one of the first centres for aviation medicine at the University of Toronto and helped develop the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Associated Committee on Aviation Medical Research as its first chairman. Dr. Franks was a senior staff member on Banting’s team, studying the physiological distress caused by high speed and gravitation effects, or G forces, on pilots during wartime. Dr. Franks succeeded his mentor as the head of the RCAF’s institute of aviation medicine after Banting’s death in 1941.
In the 1930s, aircrafts were designed to become faster, creating greater G forces that need to be countered for the health and safety of their operators. During flight maneuvers, G forces pool blood in the lower part of the human body, restricting its flow to the brain and causing loss of consciousness. Dr. Franks wanted to protect pilots from this black-out, and made a serendipitous discovery while conducting cancer research.
In 1939, Dr. Franks observed that if mice were suspended in a fluid that is the same relative density as their bodies, they could withstand, without injury, over 100 times normal gravity. However, suspending pilots in a cockpit filled with fluid was impractical. Thus, Dr. Franks constructed a semi-rigid fluid suit that placed pressure on the pilot’s legs and abdomen. This prevented blood from pooling, therefore, maintaining normal circulation for the pilot in the aircraft. Dr. Franks personally tested his invention, called the “Franks Flying Suit”, and built the first Canadian human centrifuge to study the suit’s protection in an environment that reproduces the same G forces experienced during aircraft combat maneuvers.
The “Franks Flying Suit Mark II”, as the suit was officially called, was used in combat for the first time in 1942 by pilots of the British Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during the invasion of North Africa. This suit enabled pilots to turn their aircrafts more sharply than their opponents, a tactical advantage that allowed them to gain the necessary angle of deflection during attack, while preventing an opponent from doing the same during defence manoeuvres. This saved the lives of thousands of Allied fighter pilots. Now worn by air force pilots, astronauts and cosmonauts, today’s G-suits are still based on Dr. Franks’ original design with modifications and improvements made with advancing technology.
Dr. Franks was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1944 for his efforts during World War II. His contributions to aviation research were also noticed by the United States, where he was awarded the Legion of Merit in 1946, the Aerospace Medicine Association’s Theodore C. Lyster Award in 1948, and the Eric Liliencrantz Award in 1962. He was inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1984.
Wilbur Franks died on January 4 1986 in Toronto. His legacy, however, lives on in the Wilbur R. Franks Award created by The Canadian Society of Aviation Medicine for contributions to aviation medicine. His namesake also graces the Wilbur Rounding Franks building located in Winnipeg, which is home to the Canadian Forces School of Survival and Aeromedical Training.
— Written by Ana de Faria