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Not sure this will be helpful but here goes. I wanted to be a pilot but am tall (> 6 feet) and poor eye sight (< -10). I was told at a young age that it would

Not sure this will be helpful but here goes. I wanted to be a pilot but am tall (> 6 feet) and poor eye sight (< -10). I was told at a young age that it would be nearly impossible for me. I accepted my fate for better or worse. Yet you have a better chance than me. Hard to say if it’s worth pursuing. Nevertheless, I sympathize with you because people can make big mistakes and learn from it but the categorization and stigma remains. Best of luck to you.

instaheat 3y ago
I feel bad for you. I'm sorry to hear that. I appreciate your comment. I do have excellent eye sight and am of average height. I've wondered if flying private would be any different. I don't "NEED" to work for AA.
cjbprime 3y ago
For what it's worth, I'm only an enthusiast but would be surprised to hear either of those are significant issues, unless you're saying that your corrected eyesight is also poor.
hsbauauvhabzb 3y ago
I’m curious how these aspects are not considered discriminatory - eyesight is commonly fixed by glasses and height is fixed by not squeezing every last dollar out of floorspace - which I would compare to wheelchair accessible buildings (acknowledging the latter is typically more restrictive due to scale). I’m not trying to go woke here, there are disabilities that prevent performing certain tasks such as flying (total blindness or colour blindness) but there are others which are easily worked around.
- genocidicbunny 3y ago
  In many airplanes, there are legitimate restrictions on how tall you can be as a pilot -- there simply isn't enough room up there for taller pilots to fit. As for eyesight, I'd imagine it's for the case when the pilot loses/breaks/forgets their glasses. You don't want a pilot who suddenly can't see in midair.
  - Dylan16807 3y ago
    That's not a legitimate reason for airlines. They keep ordering cockpits without an extra couple inches on purpose. And there's a ton of ways a pilot can become incapacitated. Having an extra pair of glasses is one of the easiest mitigations around, if the odds are actually that bad.
    - kortilla 3y ago
      They don’t order cockpits. That’s not how the industry works. It’s also not about “enough space” in the entire cockpit, it’s about the layouts of all of the controls and being able to reach them. “Extra pair of glasses” is not a solution in severe turbulence where the plane drops 100ft in 1 second.
      - Dylan16807 3y ago
        Planes can be customized, and the baseline design is based on what the majority of airlines want. It's the fault of airlines. Nitpicking is fine if you want to add more details but doesn't change that. And taller people on average can reach more controls, not less. For glasses, how often does that make them come off compared to any other random reason for incapacitation? And what if there's a strap trying to keep them on? Acting like this is the only risk factor in isolation is bad.
        mlyle 3y ago
        There's plenty of scope for customization, but generally not in changing the shape of the cockpit. Airliners are good at fitting 99%+ of the population well. But, in the end, airliner cockpits have switches and indicators up "high" and stuff down low that has to be easily within reach, but also not crowd your movement. There's a lot of adjustability, but adjustability (seat rails, etc) has been causes of accidents. If you're within 5'2 to 6'3, odds are you can easily clamber in, fit, reach all the controls. That's all that's required. Even if you're outside of that range it might be OK (there is a 4'11 787 captain out there...) As to glasses, there's no problem with having poor vision if it can be corrected with lenses. Aviation is not perfectly inclusive or accommodating of every disability, but it's not needlessly restrictive, either.
- sokoloff 3y ago
  Corrected vision is not disqualifying for even first class medicals (what’s needed to fly for an airline). Height or correctable vision can still be disqualifying for military aviators (my vision was disqualifying from flying pointy military jets at the time and might still be).
- fragmede 3y ago
  eyesight for pilots is commonly fixed with Lasik.
optymizer 3y ago
Interesting. Anecdotally, I think I saw plenty of 6ft captains on my way out of the airplane.

instaheat 3y ago

I feel bad for you. I'm sorry to hear that. I appreciate your comment. I do have excellent eye sight and am of average height. I've wondered if flying private would be any different. I don't "NEED" to work for AA.

cjbprime 3y ago

For what it's worth, I'm only an enthusiast but would be surprised to hear either of those are significant issues, unless you're saying that your corrected eyesight is also poor.

hsbauauvhabzb 3y ago

I’m curious how these aspects are not considered discriminatory - eyesight is commonly fixed by glasses and height is fixed by not squeezing every last dollar out of floorspace - which I would compare to wheelchair accessible buildings (acknowledging the latter is typically more restrictive due to scale). I’m not trying to go woke here, there are disabilities that prevent performing certain tasks such as flying (total blindness or colour blindness) but there are others which are easily worked around.

genocidicbunny 3y ago
In many airplanes, there are legitimate restrictions on how tall you can be as a pilot -- there simply isn't enough room up there for taller pilots to fit. As for eyesight, I'd imagine it's for the case when the pilot loses/breaks/forgets their glasses. You don't want a pilot who suddenly can't see in midair.
- Dylan16807 3y ago
  That's not a legitimate reason for airlines. They keep ordering cockpits without an extra couple inches on purpose. And there's a ton of ways a pilot can become incapacitated. Having an extra pair of glasses is one of the easiest mitigations around, if the odds are actually that bad.
  - kortilla 3y ago
    They don’t order cockpits. That’s not how the industry works. It’s also not about “enough space” in the entire cockpit, it’s about the layouts of all of the controls and being able to reach them. “Extra pair of glasses” is not a solution in severe turbulence where the plane drops 100ft in 1 second.
    - Dylan16807 3y ago
      Planes can be customized, and the baseline design is based on what the majority of airlines want. It's the fault of airlines. Nitpicking is fine if you want to add more details but doesn't change that. And taller people on average can reach more controls, not less. For glasses, how often does that make them come off compared to any other random reason for incapacitation? And what if there's a strap trying to keep them on? Acting like this is the only risk factor in isolation is bad.
      - mlyle 3y ago
        There's plenty of scope for customization, but generally not in changing the shape of the cockpit. Airliners are good at fitting 99%+ of the population well. But, in the end, airliner cockpits have switches and indicators up "high" and stuff down low that has to be easily within reach, but also not crowd your movement. There's a lot of adjustability, but adjustability (seat rails, etc) has been causes of accidents. If you're within 5'2 to 6'3, odds are you can easily clamber in, fit, reach all the controls. That's all that's required. Even if you're outside of that range it might be OK (there is a 4'11 787 captain out there...) As to glasses, there's no problem with having poor vision if it can be corrected with lenses. Aviation is not perfectly inclusive or accommodating of every disability, but it's not needlessly restrictive, either.
sokoloff 3y ago
Corrected vision is not disqualifying for even first class medicals (what’s needed to fly for an airline). Height or correctable vision can still be disqualifying for military aviators (my vision was disqualifying from flying pointy military jets at the time and might still be).
fragmede 3y ago
eyesight for pilots is commonly fixed with Lasik.

optymizer 3y ago

Interesting. Anecdotally, I think I saw plenty of 6ft captains on my way out of the airplane.