Forum: Future F-16 crew

I'm six foot five inches tall. Can I fit in an F-16?

Would there be more room in the back seat of a B/D?

Cheers,
Jon

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6'5" is the max I heard for pilot quals, not sure though. But, someone told me that in the F-16 you have to be mid sized because the cockpit is smaller than other jets? Not sure about that info either.

viper032386 wrote:

6'5" is the max I heard for pilot quals, not sure though. But, someone told me that in the F-16 you have to be mid sized because the cockpit is smaller than other jets? Not sure about that info either.

That's pretty much right. Anyone over 6'5" is gonna be fairly uncomfortable in that tiny pit. Even after putting the pedals full forward and the seat full down you still have to have enough headroom to look around effectively.

The tallest Viper pilot I ever saw claimed he was a skosh over 6'6" and built like a linebacker. He had to put the seat full down, and even with the HGU-55P helmet, had to duck when he dropped the canopy to make sure it didn't bonk him in the noodle! Laughing

.

Oh and if you have long legs you can't extend them enough to get them against the seat if you had to eject, so you're looking at severe bruising if not breaking both of your legs when you punch.

Salute!

Have to await reply from Cylon and/or STBYGAIN......... but

Biggest problem I saw in cockpit wasn't height or long/short legs - it was 'girth' or width. I was only 5'7" at the time ( now a shriveled, puny, even smaller runt... heh heh). I saw very tall folks have no problems with rudders, as they only move a half an inch, and could be cranked in/out a large amount. Seat could get so low that you had to peer out over canopy rail, and my sitting height was as much as many 6 footers (I have short legs, long body). The guys that had problems were squat, wide. Cockpit was more narrow than anything I flew except the T-33.

My wife had a back-seat taxi ride with me and had no trouble steering with the rudders. And she's about 5' even, with short legs, very short.

My buddy in Ops Plans was about 6'2" and long legs - no problem.

I say press on and demand an actual 'sitting session' in the bird to find out.

later,

Also see the topic called "<a href="http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-282.html">Height requirements</a>"

Here in Norway, you can't be taller than 1.95 meters though

TomaTo wrote:

Here in Norway, you can't be taller than 1.95 meters though

Let's see...a meter...I used to know what a meter was. Four quarts in a gallon, 16 ounces in a pound, a cubit's 'bout 18 inches...so natch, 1.95 m = about, what, 6'4"?

(I LOOOOOATHE metrics! Wink

)

1 ft is 30.48 centimeters... so 1.95 meters is 195 centimeters so the Norway dudes can be 6.39 feet!

Our system is just so logic: 1000 milimeters = 100 centimeters = 1 meter, 1000 meters = 1 kilometer... I wish everyone would work with this logical system i.s.o NM, gallons, pints, yards and feet... that's just to make life difficult!

Greets

Point taken Frodo. Blame it on our history as a bunch of British colonies that got fed up with George III's disrespect, but didn't quite throw off the entire yoke. Laughing

There was a big push here in the US back in the 70's to get everyone comfortable with the metric system. It just never caught on here...kinda like pro soccer. Wink

Besides...what sounds more manly?

Q: How tall are you?
A1: Why, 6-4!
A2: Why, 1.95!

LMFAO, 1.95 might end up being considered as some other kinda measurement in todays world, especially with the younger kids nowadays.

How about to get tall, any advice? I'm really short at 5'4½".

5'4 1/2" is ok. I've known pilots who were that short. Me, I'm nearly 5' 11" and I was more than comfortable in my two rides in the Viper. Even comfortable in high G flight! I've also known guys that make me look like a shrimp, and they were/are pilots. Alas, however, to answer your first question, the room up front in the Viper is the same as in the Viper's Coach Section.

Hello, nice to be back after a two-week exam session! Very Happy

Isn't the length of shinbones very important too, because of ejection matters? I remember that it was the reason why Adriana Karembeu, who is the marraine (helping to promote the public image) of the Patrouille de France (the Frech demonstration team), could not anyway fly on the Alpha jets because her shinbones are much too long.

I would suspect that if her sitting height was affected, then that is what kept her from flying. Like Gums said, length of lower or upper body is not really a factor. It is the sitting height that can dock you. I think it's somewhere around 5'2 1/2" to 5'3" here in the US. I know my ex g/f was not allowed into pilot training, because of her height, well and her weight, but that's a different topic. She's 5'2", and weighs about 100 lbs, soaking wet, holding a cinder block. Razz

Her sitting height was obviously much shorter.

I heard a story sometime ago that back when Michael Jordan was the dominant player in the NBA, the Blue Angels wanted to give him a ride, but he's 6'6", so it didn't work out.

Oh yeah, off the subject, but speaking of Patrouille de France, they are a great team to watch. Excellent pilots, the French are. I wish the team would get the Rafale. Now, THAT would be the show to watch my friends!

I'd like it too myself Very Happy

, but the French Air Force would never commit combat aircraft for the Patrouille de France the way the USAF and the Navy do. The number of Rafales on order is already very low... Confused

Anyway, you're right about it: I have already seen the Patrouille four times and they flew very impressive things each time.

Forum: Future F-16 crew

Tall F-16 pilots