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Niece with "vertical challenges" wants to be a pilot

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FionasMom

New member
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Posts
2
My niece turned 14 in May. She starts high school in late August. She's aviation crazy, loves anything and everything to do with airplanes and flying, and has since she was a tiny tot. She loves going to air shows, loves going to the airport to watch the planes, builds plane models. She is saving her babysitting money so she can take flying lessons and get her pilot's license when she is older. Even when she was a small child, she talked about wanting to join the military. In the last year or so, she's talked more seriously with her parents and I about attending either the Air Force, Naval, or Coast Guard Academy. She knows she will have to work hard to achieve her dream. She knows she needs to start planning and thinking now. She knows it won't be easy. She's a straight A student. She's active in sports, gymnastics, track & field, swimming and diving. She's involved with scouting and her church's youth group. All in all a kid any parent would be proud to have.

I think that if she does decide to try and go to one of the military academies, she may well manage to do it. Thing is, I think she's got her thoughts centered on being a military pilot. I'm not sure that it's possible. The entire family is made up of very small statured people. The tallest in the family is an uncle, who's 5'8. The tallest female would be my mother, who's all of 5'3". The rest of the women are within a couple inches of 5 feet. I'm just barely over 5', my brother (her dad) is 5'6". Her mom is from a family of munchkins too, her mom is 4'10". My niece is currently 4'11". She spained an ankle in June in a bad gymnastics landing, and the orthopedic surgeon told her parents that her x-rays show that she's nearly done growing, that she shouldn't expect to be any more than 5'1" at most. The shortness goes back a couple generations at least. She's not going to hit a growth spurt and wind up 5'5".

I may well be wrong, but I dated a guy who'd been in the Air Force when I was in my mid twenties, and I remember him telling me there were strict height restrictions for pilots. He'd wanted to be one, but his 6'7" height had stopped him cold. I know there is a minimum height as well, and I'm pretty sure it's no where near 5' or 5'1", it's more. I want my niece to be able to achieve all that she'd like to, but I also want her to understand from the very beginning what her limits might be. I know she can join the military, one of my high school girlfriends joined the Army, and is still in, as far as I know, and she is shorter than I am. But Irene didn't become a pilot. What are the height restrictions, if any for a female military pilot? Do they vary by type of aircraft? And are civilian standards different/lower? She loves the idea of joining the military, but loves the idea of being a pilot even more, so I could see her attending a civilian university or college and majoring in aviation, with her sights on working as a civilian pilot. She talks about going to Embry-Riddle as much as the academies. Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Looks like 5' 4" is the min height for the AF, the Navy and Coast Guard may have different requirements. Good luck to your niece...

From the AFROTC website:
http://www.afrotc.com/admissions/medreq/

Pilot/Nav Qualifications
Interested in flying? We've listed below some general qualifications. Once in Air Force ROTC, cadets must obtain a Class 1 Flight Physical.

> Pilot:

  • Vision:
    • Normal color vision
    • Distant vision, uncorrected to 20/70, but corrected to 20/20
    • Near vision, uncorrected to 20/20
    • Meet refraction, accommodation and astigmatism requirements
    • Corrective eye surgery could be a disqualifier
  • Have no history of hay fever, ashma or allergies after age 12
  • Meet Air Force weight and physical conditioning requirements
  • Have standing height of 64 to 77 inches and sitting height of 34 to 40 inches
> Navigator:
  • Vision:
    • Normal color vision
    • Distant vision, 20/200 but corrected to 20/20
    • Near vision, 20/40 but corrected to 20/20
    • Meet refraction, accommodation and astigmatism requirements
    • Corrective eye surgery could be a disqualifier
  • Have no history of hay fever, asthma or allergies after age 12
  • Meet Air Force weight and physical conditioning requirements
  • Have standing height of 64 to 77 inches and sitting height of 34 to 40 inches
If you are found to be medically disqualified, a waiver request will be automatically forwarded from DODMERB to AETC/SG for consideration. If your waiver request is denied and you believe there are extenuating circumstances that justify further consideration, follow the DODMERB instructions (with notification letter) regarding rebuttals.

If you have a medical question, DODMERB is your only official source of information. Write DODMERB, Colorado Springs, CO, 80840-2200, or call (719) 333-3562.
 
I know there were a couple females in my class who looked shorter than 5'4" to me so the only way to know is just go for the physical and see what happens.

If she just wants to fly, have her look into joining the guard/reserve when the time comes. She'll get the same training as active duty without the additional headaches of active duty. Don't get me wrong, an active duty career is great and has many benefits (i.e. retirement), but it involves non flying/staff tours, remote assignments, and having to move around. If the thought of being an officer first and pilot second appeals to her than by all means go for it, just don't forget to research the guard/reserve.

This is coming from an all reserve guy, I'm sure some active duty guys will chime in and give you a better perspective from that side.

By the way, that's great that you are taking the effort to help your niece figure out her dreams and how to achieve them!
 
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Your niece sounds like a treasure, but it doesn't sound like she's going to make it militarily.

May I suggest she becomes aware NOW that the military may be closed to her? As a youngster, she'll heal easier than if she pursues this dream of military flight and have it prove fruitless. As a female, she'll probably be at her full height by Soph. or Junior yr at the latest. You'll know then.

Have her pursue aviation in another fashion? Maybe the Coast Guard has a smaller minimum, as they fly jets and choppers that are different, and have no ejection system.

Failing the military, as much as she loves aviation, as an enthusiastic young person with drive and intelligence, with persistence she can have a career as a civilian pilot.

One final thought... at 14, she can solo a glider. I started in gliders at 14, and gliding/soaring is a SUPERB, safe, and excellent way to learn how to fly. She will learn how to safely conduct a flight without the distractions of the engine system. Glider pilots learn how to coordinate their turns, manage energy, and they also make VERY safe light-plane pilots because of their skills at judging power-off patterns and landings.


Best of luck to her.
 
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A couple of things to ponder.
1) I don't know if there are waivers for height; someone else could answer that better than myself. A waiver for height would probably be more likely out of a service academy.
2) Anti-grav boots. It would allow your spine to 'decompress' some. I knew a couple of vertically challenged women who used them successfully at the AF Academy. It's also important to get measured in the MORNING, as your spine compresses during the day. IIRC, the sitting height was a problem for one of them.
And FWIW, I noticed that the people giving flight physicals at the AF Academy seemed to be fairly liberal in their measurements (of course that was almost 20 years ago, but I would think that the mentality remains). There were a couple of guys who must've shrunk during their physicals to get below 77 inches.

All the best,
Andy
 
There are height waivers, but I am not sure how easy they are to get. The problem is if you go to the Academy and then don't get the waiver, you will still have 5 yrs to do as a non-pilot. If you don't go to an Academy, then a waiver will most likely be harder to get.

I did find some new CG height requirements which were 62-78"
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/mcpocg/1trng/avicandprgm0501.htm

If she can make it to 5'2" she wouldn't need a waiver to be a coastie.

One more thing to ponder for the Air Force, the pilot committment is 10 years AFTER completely pilot training.
 
Thanks for all the help and advice. It is much appreciated! Pretty much it's what I figured, her best shot is the Coast Guard, and all of the informationwill help in making her aware of her options and limitations,which those of us who care for would rather have her understand now , at 14 and not in high school yet instead of 4, 6, or 8 years from now.
 
I wouldn't suggest giving her false hopes, but I also wouldn't suggest completely rulling out the possibility. In 4 years of instruction for both the Navy (exchange) and USAF, I have seen many females of varied heights come through the programs. I don't know what the waiver process was, but it was worth asking for the people that I saw. I know for a fact that the Navy will put someone who doesn't meet a certain restriction in an actual cockpit and see if they can actuate all of the controls. As a T-34 instructor, I instructed a male (had to be no taller that 5' 1" at the most - don't remember his exact height but he was shorter than my 5'2" wife) and a female who both knew that they were headed for the H-60 before they even started flying the T-34. Part of the design requirements on most new aircraft (particularly aircraft and ejection seats) is that they accomodate something like the 5th percentile female and the 95th percentile male - research the development of the T-6 Texan II and you'll probably find something about that.
 

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