Inventor's name: Wilbur Rounding Franks

Date of birth: March 4, 1901 in Weston Ontario

Date of death: January 4, 1986

Invention: He and a team of inventors invented the first ever working anti-gravity suit. The suit which was called FFS MK 11. It was invented in 1941. It was used to prevent a pilot from blacking out from a high acceleration and g-force. The suit, a set of overalls tightly laced to a pilot's body from his ankles to the top of his chest, consisted of two layers of rubber with water in between. Although cumbersome and impractical, the suit protected a pilot from forces of 6 G's or more when the downward pressure on the water caused by acceleration created enough force to counteract the downward rush of blood in the body.  Dr. Franks then developed zippered pants with air-inflated bladders to squeeze the stomach and legs, and that evolved into the first production G-suit. Most current systems still use this approach, with interconnected inflatable bladders powered by air pressure generated from the plane and G-sensitive valves that apply and release pressure when needed.

5 Interesting Facts: Wilbur Franks became involved in the aviation field because of his medical research. Commissioned into the Royal Canadian Air Medical Corp, he began active medical research into solving the problems related to pilot blackout from acceleration in high G-manouveres. He eventually designed the Franks Flying Suit, which he personally tested, and was the first person to be successfully protected from radial acceleration in an aircraft. He also helped design the RCAF human centrifuge which was used to reproduce various G-forces at high speeds, simulating the effects of manouveres in combat aircraft. He also received his medical degree in 1928.