Dive bombers actually subjected pilots to some serious g-forces. Some planes (at least the Stuka) had an automatic pull-out that would cause it to pull up at a

Dive bombers actually subjected pilots to some serious g-forces. Some planes (at least the Stuka) had an automatic pull-out that would cause it to pull up at a certain altitude (or when the bomb is released, I'm not sure), so the plane could recover even if the pilot blacked out. Though apparently some pilots didn't like this feature and disabled it, because they felt always recovering at the same height made it easier to anti-air defenses to target them. Another fun fact about the Stuka: you know that weird whining noise you hear in WW2 movies when a plane is dive bombing, almost sounds like the engine is acting up (like this https://youtu.be/5uvqhA4_2tU?t=39 https://youtu.be/5uvqhA4_2tU?t=39 )? So that noise is unique to the Stuka. It's not the engine, the plane has sirens fitted to the dive brakes! It was meant to scare soldiers on the ground.