Physiscal limitations to fly NJE/bizz jets

[Sgnr de L'Atlantique]

I was wondering what the current limitations are when you want to become a pilot for, lets say, NJE.

Looking at the cockpit of a Citation Excel or a Hawker 800 it is easy to see that its a lot smaller then the flight deck of an airliner.

Can a guy of 1M96 easily get his legs on the pedals and still have full authority over the yoke. What about the comfort on the flightdeck for both pilots etc...

In short, what is considered to be the max length, weight etc to fly those beautifull machines?

thanks

[westhawk]

Sgnr de L'Atlantique: I have never heard of any company imposing limitations on pilot dimensions. And I have seen some very large and some very small pilots flying corporate jets. I used to fly Westwinds with a guy who was 2 meters tall and 110 Kilos.(6',6" and about 240 lbs.) I currently fly with a female who is 157cm and 50 kilos. ( 5',2" and 110 lbs.) Very large and very small pilots can fly these planes just fine. Though they may have to adjust the seats and rudder pedals to their maximum travel. Some extra care must be taken to ensure that full travel of all controls is possible with these adjustments. It is really more of a problem for the small pilot to adjust the seat high enough to see over the glare shield and far enough forward to reach the pedals without inadvertently applying the brakes when moving the pedals. Most of them find a way to work it out! For tall and for large pilots, it is really more a matter of comfort unless they are so large as to be unable to get full travel from the flight controls. Careful adjustment of seat and pedals usually solves this problem satisfactorily. Getting in and out of the seat gracefully is an art in itself for larger or less limber pilots, but it can be overcome with creativity and practice!

So I think if you try sitting down in one of these aircraft you will figure it out for yourself. Obviously there will be some models that just may be designed too small for some pilots, but you might be surprised by how much you can adapt.

Best regards,

Westhawk