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Question for F-16 pilots
I’m 6’5 with a pretty large frame, am I too big to fly this jet? Is there anyone I can talk to officially that would be able to tell me whether or not my dimensions would disqualify me?
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3 Replies
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The maximum height to fly the viper is 6’5. ive heard of 5’10 guys saying that they felt claustrophobic –I can’t imagine trying to fit in an f-16 cockpit at that size.
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I can’t find the official documentation, but beyond just overall height will be your anthropometric measurements (butt to knee length, butt to top of head, etc). For any ejection aircraft, they need to make sure your legs won’t get ripped off or that your head won’t break through the canopy before the seat does. The standards must be slightly different from aircraft to aircraft because I know of at least one person selected for A-10s who was told that he could only get a waiver to fly the F-35 (not necessarily a bigger cockpit, just a different ejection seat).
As far as an official source to talk to, I would recommend connecting with one of the BogiDope Flight Docs, who should be able to track down the official standards that Wright Patt uses during your initial Flying Class 1 physical.
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Concur with Slap,those anthropometric measurements are the key.
The viper is a smaller cockpit -I’m 6’4” 215 and while I can’t bring my golf clubs into the cockpit (looking at you F-15) I’ve got room enough to be comfortable. We’ve got two dudes in the squadron who are 6’5”, I’d guess 220-250lbs so it’s possible if you can make those knee to butt measurements.
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