Height Requirements

Navy_Tennis

5-Year Member
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Oct 11, 2009
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I've wanted to become a fighter pilot for a very long time, and I just realized I might be too short. . . I'm 5'2" barely, and if it makes any difference I'm a girl. Thank you! :tomcat:
 
62 inches is the minimum required for naval aviators. Naval flight officers are 60 inches.

They will measure you very closely so make sure to stand up tall during the measurement!

There are some additional requirements for different aircraft platforms, but unfortunately I don't have access to that data so I can't tell you if that will cut it for jets or not.
 
Not sure about the Navy's height requirements, but in the AF, if there is any question about being close to minimums or maximums for ejection seat aircraft, they use your SITTING height for final determination. Basically measure you from the seat top to the top of your cranium. Has to do with what the ejection seat has been safely designed and validated for.

On a positive note for you, I do know in the F-35 (the Navy's (and USMC's, and AF's) newest fighter, still in development), the ejection seat must be validated to a minimum operator WEIGHT of 103 lbs. I'm assuming you have to be pretty small (or as thin as a rail) to be that light. :thumb:
 
My dad was an AF pilot years ago. I remember him telling stories of his squadron mates. The ones that were too tall would do jumping jacks in hopes of compressing their spines so when they went to weigh in (or "height in") they would be at an acceptable height. Conversely, I remember him telling me about the ones that were too short would hang upside down from a bar in hopes of "stretching" their spines.:smile:
 
My dad was an AF pilot years ago. I remember him telling stories of his squadron mates. The ones that were too tall would do jumping jacks in hopes of compressing their spines so when they went to weigh in (or "height in") they would be at an acceptable height. Conversely, I remember him telling me about the ones that were too short would hang upside down from a bar in hopes of "stretching" their spines.:smile:

Still happens to this day!

tpg said:
Wow, are they designing that thing for pipsqueaks

Of course I am a person who Wrestled 103 when I was in the 8th grade....and have not seen that weight since.
Honestly, are they designing that thing to open it up to more women? What does that do for the giants that I have seen in the past then?

I think they are trying to increase the overall safety for the aircrew. Currently the minimum weight for aircrew is 103lbs and the NACES (current ejection seat) has a minimum weight of something like 130lbs. They will give waivers for people between that 103-130 range but they are required to sign waivers saying they are aware of the increased risk of injury due to their weight.

By making it safer for the lighter person you are also making it safer for the slightly heavier person. I don't think they are looking to change the max weight which is around 256, I believe. (By the way, well out of navy weight standards for most everybody except the giants who are probably out of aviation standards anyway).
 
It's not purely about height. The blunt answer is that at 5'2", odds are you a bit smart by one of the anthro measurements for pilot. Although kp probably has more knowledge on the specific measurements, most of the people I know started to miss measurements at about 5'4". That's from the navy side; I don't know how they do it from the air force side. I do know plenty of people who failed measurements for pilot but were still plenty big for NFO spots, if you just want to be in the air.

When it comes down to it, you really won't know until you try - if you go to one of the Academies, your first priority should be being an officer, and if your size doesn't work out, you should be happy doing something else.


Also, just for anyone else reading the thread, on the Navy side the max weight to start training was 235, and if you're over 205 (I'm pretty sure that's what it was), you have to sign the heavy side ejection seat waiver.
 
It's not purely about height. The blunt answer is that at 5'2", odds are you a bit smart by one of the anthro measurements for pilot.

That's actually a good point to make. You also have to take seated height, buttock-knee length, and fingertip reach. (I may be missing one). Unfortunately there's no real way to know until you get down to Pensacola (Navy specific here) because there is only one person in the Navy who takes official anthro measurements and they are down at Aviation Schools Command.

Wherever you get the initial aviation physical done will do a set, but it's not the "official, official" set.
 
this old grunt just thought all they “measured” for Pilots was…..well never mind, we won’t go there.

I'm assuming you meant..... ego. Yeah, it has to be pretty darn big (even for us WSOs), or you're automatically disqualified. Typically, when someone in the squadron sneezed, there was a chorus of "I bless you's" from thoughout the building. And mirrors weren't allowed in the building or nothing would have gotten done because we would have all been too distracted staring into them, throwing back our hair while pointing rakishly, and winking at ourselves while continually whispering under our breath "You handsome Devil, you!" :biggrin::yllol::biggrin:

As to the next generation of ejection seats, the requirement is for weight standards from 103 to 245 pounds (without gear). And actually, the trouble is with the lighter scenarios because of the amount of G-forces experienced during ejections, especially with the new helmet display systems (more weight on top of the helmet). I guess they want to allow anyone to fly: from Twiggy to Porkins from Star Wars (psst, Bullet. Your geek is showing when you start quoting names from Star Wars :shake:)
 
…..and just imagine, this old grunt just thought all they “measured” for Pilots was…..well never mind, we won’t go there. :redface: :thumb:

From someone who sees 'them' on an all too frequent basis: you have to pretend like something is big at least :yllol::yllol: there ego's that is :shake:
 
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