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Comment by taude | Hacker News Reader

Your comments made me wonder if there were height restrictions, found this verbiage on US Airforce site:

"For pilot and aircrew positions, height specifications vary by aircraft and most applicants can successfully pursue a career in aviation with the U.S. Air Force. Applicants who are significantly taller or shorter than average may require special screening to ensure they can safely perform operational duties. Applicants of all heights are encouraged to apply."

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If you think much about the different platforms, it makes perfect sense that there are specific and varied requirements. Presumably they're pretty flexible about who flies a C-5, considering it's big enough to carry Chinooks or M-1 tanks [0]. OTOH, ejecting out of a fighter jet probably doesn't go very well if your knees are smashed up against the dashboard.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-5_Galaxy

Sitting height is just as important for safe ejections as leg length. My dad was 5'10" but with a tall sitting height and he was just barely under the safety line for a seat in an S-3.

Having short limbs and a long body can indicate the presence of a medical condition known as "Hypochrondroplasia".

> Hypochrondroplasia is a genetic disorder characterized by small stature and disproportionately short arms, legs, hands, and feet (short-limbed dwarfism). Short stature often is not recognized until early to mid childhood or, in some cases, as late as adulthood.

There were in the 80s, my dad wanted to join the Air Force as a pilot but was told he could never be one, he was too tall.

In my youth my mum said that I need to eat all my veggies to become tall and strong which would be required if I wanted to be an astronaut.

I found it extremely amusing that in reality there are height restrictions for astronauts, and there is no height minimum.

When I was an undergrad I thought about seeing what it would take to be an astronaut. Turns out that the largest spacesuit they made back then was 6', so even if I had Buzz Aldrin's CV I wouldn't have been able to go.

Former USAF pilot candidate: there are physiological reasons specific to high-G maneuvering in fighter jets that taller people are disqualified for as well. Shorter people have less challenges with GLOC or loss of consciousness.

Yes, but it's the military. They recruit people by convincing them they all will be fighter pilots and then a lot of them end up ground crew.

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