Fighter pilots secure the airspace over the Federal Republic of Germany and must be able to control their aircraft safely even at double the speed of sound and in the most difficult situations. They must be physically fit for that. Although pressure suit and breathing mask provide support, enormous forces of up to 8 G still affect the cockpit crews of the fighter jets. The pilot's implement is the F-4F Phantom. Developed by the American aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas in the mid-fifties, the jet has been used by the German Luftwaffe for four decades. At the Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen" in East Frisian Wittmund start the last 10 machines of this type, before they are replaced by the modern Eurofighter. SPIEGEL- TV WISSEN author Sascha Dünnebacke looks behind the scenes of the fighter squadron and faces the challenge of a flight with the F-4F Phantom.