the mass of the system depends on the weight of the system and the frequency of vibration to be encountered in the preferred embodiment system four model 2k2 isolators made by barry wright corporation of watertown mass were employed these shock absorbers substantially attenuated the shock forces however shock forces in excess of 300 times gravity imposed on the base 10 were sufficient to interrupt normal operation of the above mentioned 7330 system flying head 18 may be replaced with a test head which enables the gap between the test head and the disk to be continuously measured by a capacitive detection device the results of vibration and shock forces applied to the base 10 may be recorded as oscilloscope patterns it can be determined from the oscilloscope pattern when the flying heads are about to crash the pressure in the chamber 25 of flying head 18 may be increased to avoid the anticipated crash in a similar manner when the gap between disk 17 and head 18 increases the pressure in chamber 25 may be decreased to prevent the head 18 from separating too far from the disk 17 to be continuously operable in the preferred embodiment the data taken from actual shock and vibration tests may be employed in one of two modes of operation in the first or.