Vagabond:

I read a technical report once that stated the design criteria for US fighters, up until the current decade.

I can't remember if it was 90% or 95%, but the US aircraft industry looked at the bell-curve of anthromorphic data for males in the US, and built cockpits to accomodate either 90 or 95% of them. (I think is was 95%).

I'm on the low-end of the curve--used to be 5' 10", but age and 26 years of pulling Gs has shrunk me an inch.

I would say the most common height one sees in a fighter squadron seems to be right around 6-even, plus or minus an inch. Build varies greatly, though--from linebacker types to lanky.

The Japanese built a knock-off F-16 they call the F-2. One of its chief differences is the anthromorphic criteria for Japan--the cockpit is much smaller, since Japanese men tend to be about 1-2 inches shorter than their US counterparts.

Since the cockpit is one of the biggest sources of drag and adverse aerodynamics on a fighter, by making it smaller, it should improve performance.