what's the typical height for a pilot?

Doesn't matter.

I think I know a female 767 pilot who, if she's much over 5'1, I'd be surprised. And then there's another guy I know who was based in DFW that is at least 6'7.

One of my pals is a 6'5-6'6 737-800 FO. Used to fly F-16's even. Fully articulating seat I gather! :)
 
Airliners have fully adjustable seats, forward/backward, sideways and up & down to allow for a HUGE range of sizes, and are also equipped with adjustable rudder pedals.

GA airplanes are a bit less adjustable, but still have forward/backwards adjusting seats, the Pipers I trained in also had vertical seat adjustments. (Which my dad had to fix so I could use it :D ) I did however, embarassingly require one of those Nelson booster seats. I got it at Oshkosh one year, and it really helped with visibility. If anyone made fun of me for it, I hit them with it. :)
 
Well, I'm going through new hire training right now. I'm 6' 2", and one girl in my class is about 5' 3" in her heels!

So you got a wide range! :)
 
I saw a Mesa pilot (male) the other day who I'm pretty sure was a "little person"--looked like 4ft something. Didn't seem to bother him.
 
zmiller4 said:
I saw a Mesa pilot (male) the other day who I'm pretty sure was a "little person"--looked like 4ft something. Didn't seem to bother him.
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I've seen that Mesa pilot!! I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but I smiled at him and thought, "Sweet! Someone shorter than I am!"

I'm 5' and 1/2 inch, but my flight surgeon is generous enough to call me 5'1". It was hard to look tough walking on the flight line to the 172 carrying my pink cushions, but I managed to get through.
 
About a week ago we had a crew deaheading with us to LEX and the female FO was at least 6'. Then the captain I flew with recently was maybe 5"4". Overall it doesn't matter, it comes down to who's buying the first round on the overnights:nana2:.
 
wildfreightess said:
I've seen that Mesa pilot!! I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but I smiled at him and thought, "Sweet! Someone shorter than I am!"

I'm 5' and 1/2 inch, but my flight surgeon is generous enough to call me 5'1". It was hard to look tough walking on the flight line to the 172 carrying my pink cushions, but I managed to get through.
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I've seen him too! In DEN a few weeks back. Good for him for making it work out! I also have a buddy who is easily 6' 6". We used to call them the "tallest instructor" now we call him the "the tallest FO" :)
 
Pinnacle has a very short male CA.... 5'0-5'1 ...barely taller than my mom. I flew with him right after he upgraded...and he complained on final that his seat was too high. Oh, the irony.

I'm 5'9" which is supposedly the average size for pilots. My sim partner in upgrade at Pinnacle was 6'6," which worked out great b/c I didn't have to adjust the rudder pedals, just the seat. Airliners will adjust for a whole range of pilot sizes.
 
Here is the FAA guidance on height.

Although there are no medical standards for height, exceptionally short individuals may not be able to effectively reach all flight controls and must fly specially modified aircraft. If required, the FAA will place operational limitations on the pilot certificate.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Doesn't matter.

I think I know a female 767 pilot who, if she's much over 5'1, I'd be surprised. And then there's another guy I know who was based in DFW that is at least 6'7.

One of my pals is a 6'5-6'6 737-800 FO. Used to fly F-16's even. Fully articulating seat I gather! :)
Click to expand...

I'm 6'5"-6'6", and somehow fit into a 150. But, those fighter jet cockpits can be even smaller than that. I tried getting into one at the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, FL, and couldn't fit, lol.
 
I'm 6'6" and I did my private in a katana. Needless to say that was 40 painful hours, then into pipers cessna207 and thena chieftain, once past the katana I have been pretty comfy ever since
 
The USAF requires pilot candidates to be between 5'4" and 6'4". I've seen waivers up to 6'7", but a 5'2" girl I knew in AFROTC was denied, even after a cockpit evaluation and a Commandant's Award at field training.
 
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