Originally Posted by
ORAC
In September, Defense News revealed that concerns over ejection safety have forced the Pentagon to ground any F-35 pilots under 138 pounds from flying the jet.
So what? Back when I was a young aviator, some of my compadres were disqualified on jets, at all, due to anthropomorphic restrictions: some too tall, ejection risk too high, and some were too short on effective reach (all of them being short persons).
Having an anthro limitation doesn't matter. Over 50% of Navy pilots, for example, are helicopter pilots. Not all Air Force pilots are going to be Lightning II pilots. There's a lot of drama going on here ... for what looks to me to be no good reason.
As to the larger issue, cutting the buy just bumps the price per unit up again. Lovely. The Hi Low Mix fails yet again.