vagabond

This is a post in my "How Tall Are You?" thread.

There is a maximum height limitation for fighters?? Is there a minimum? Is that why just about every fighter pilot I know is a shorty? I thought you only had to be a Hottie and have a good bladder?

LivingInMEM

[quote=vagabond;490981 Is that why just about every fighter pilot I know is a shorty? [/quote]

No, it's because you must only know the wrong ones?

Are these shorty's A-10 dudes or Strike Eagle drivers? That's where they all seem to end up.

UAL T38 Phlyer

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.

Eck4Life

I've never flown fighters, but a guy I flew with many times had back in the day. He had over 5k hours of fighter time after finally retiring in the F-16 around 1995. Many folks here could correct me if I'm wrong, but he said the height limitation had a lot to do with the fact that if you had to punch out your knees would smack the aircraft on the way out if you were too tall. Obviously this would take your lower legs off. Now, most of his time was in century series fighters so they may be built differently now. That's just what I was told. I know I've seen/met/known plenty that were over 6'. I'm sure others here can expand on this.

Slice

I am the perfect fighter pilot height...69"
I don't know the max. I know a guy who's 6'3" in the Viper. One probably can't be much taller than that.

KBAR

Along those lines, the 2 "heights" they look at are your sitting height 1st followed by your butt-to-knee length. You have to have a LONG torso to fall outside the limits as I recall. 2nd, if your height is because of your LONG femurs, then that's where you risk having your knees amputated by the jet if you have to punch. I learned this while I was being measured years ago. Bottom line, there's not so much a "height" limit (as in all those above 6'3" can't be pilots) as there is a requirement to be in the 2 said ranges above.

FlyFastLiveSlow

This is pretty much true in all human factors design process. The larger the target population that you have to fit, the more expensive the design and finished product are. It's a cost savings and simplification measure. All human factors engineering texts will have the 90 or 95% for men, women, or both. Think about the average car seat--it will adjust for 95% of the drivers license holding population. If you are really short, really tall, or disabled, you are going to have to pay to have the vehicle modified to work for you.

cougar

76" is the standard, although it is waviable. 39" is the max sitting height. I'm 78' tall and flew A-10's for 10 years. There was an academy grad who played football for the AFA, flew A-10's, then got out after Gulf War I and played defensive line for the Dallas Cowboys.

USMCFLYR

Funny you should say that. The shortest AF pilot I have ever met was a former A-10 AND F-15E guy Great guy though.

USMCFLYR

Eck4Life

Gotcha...you're saying a prospective tall pilot better have some freaky, weird long tibias and fibias (ideally)!!