<p>navy2010 said:
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<p>Actually, the modern day aircraft are much more accommodating than many of the older (and no longer flying) tactical jets.</p>
<p>Anthropometric measurements are taken of each air candidate. If he has a severely disqualifying dimension (i.e. sitting height), he may not be permitted to go Air. At worst, some Student Naval Aviators are restricted from flying certain aircraft.</p>
<p>For instance, in my case, although I am not super tall (6’3"), I have an unusually “tall” torso dimension. I was restricted from flying F-4’s and A-7’s because of this dimension. At the time, it was nearly impossible to get assigned to F-14’s and I really did not want to fly an A-6. Those were the only tactical jets. I didn’t want to fly the S-3 or A-3 in the WORST way!</p>
<p>While still a Student Naval Aviator in Kingsville, Texas - I noticed one day that an A-7 was parked in our flight line. I quickly called the base flight surgeon on the phone and he met me at the aircraft. I sat in the cockpit and he examined me for a “safe ejection.” He wrote up the paperwork and I got a waiver to fly the A-7. That’s what I ended up flying although, technically, I was not “safe” for ejection. Fortunately, I never got the opportunity to test that out. (Although I <em>did</em> eject from a TA-4 when I was a Sergrad in Kingsville, later that same year.)</p>