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How much of being a fighter pilot do you believe is genetic?

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How much of being a fighter pilot do you believe is genetic?

Old 7th Feb 2019, 16:14
  #21 (permalink)  
 
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I’m assuming it was all genetic - given how easy it was and how good we were. 😉
It would save a lot of time if you could do a quick blood test and from that weed out all the twin seaters.
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 16:27
  #22 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by dook
As we used to say in Fighter Command:

big watch - big d..k - pay by cheque.
Ditto in Transport Command, notably in Singapore!
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 17:16
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Orca #21 Love It!! You learn something every day.

And there was I thinking that all that was required was to be hirsute, have prehensile toes and a fondness for bananas.

Brian48nav #15

If you add "suave and urbane" you get the VC10 Nav rather than the "Duelling Banjos" Herc Nav.

Last edited by Tengah Type; 7th Feb 2019 at 17:26.
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 17:56
  #24 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by Brian 48nav
My ex-fighter pilot son is first born, 6'4" and reckoned he was the 'G King' when he was on Jaguars ( 2000-09 ) - big ego and I believe well-hung - I stopped checking when he overtook me at about 12 months old!

Don't know about genetics - when I had a go at a PPL just before taking my 8yr option I was absolutely useless. Perhaps my dearly beloved passed on the FP genes?

He's certainly " God's gift to women " - or so he keeps telling us!
Oh dear, Fighter pilot and Jaguar in the same sentence 😁
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 17:58
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slight aside ...... the Met Man has to have very thick skin.
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 18:21
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Originally Posted by Pontius Navigator
Oh dear, Fighter pilot and Jaguar in the same sentence 😁
I believe it was widely acknowledged that the ability pecking order was, Harrier, Jaguar, Bucc then Phantom. So Brian is pretty on the money.

CG
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 19:01
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Hack, rack, and zoom, not now a days as its all systems. So a good systems operator (like a good ATC)
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 19:01
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Charliegolf Dangerous territory, in this forum, equating mud moving minijet pilots with REAL FIGHTER PILOTS. Watch your six.!
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 19:11
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TT

Don't understand your comment.

CG has got it absolutely spot on.
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 19:24
  #30 (permalink)  
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I don’t believe it did so in the 50-70s, it was just that Darwin weeded out those that shouldn’t procreate.

Not sure since then, but the retreat from low level and increasing use of data-links, pods and other systems seem to indicate that, as in billionaires and elsewhere the geeks are taking over the world.....
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 19:26
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BomberH
Did you never meet a WIWOL ( or BEagle ) who told you what a REAL FIGHTER PILOT was ? It did not involve mud moving, but did involve lots of hand movements in the bar,, while describing various combat manoeuvres.
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 19:34
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Originally Posted by Brian 48nav
My ex-fighter pilot son is first born, 6'4" and reckoned he was the 'G King' when he was on Jaguars ( 2000-09 ) - big ego and I believe well-hung - I stopped checking when he overtook me at about 12 months old!

Don't know about genetics - when I had a go at a PPL just before taking my 8yr option I was absolutely useless. Perhaps my dearly beloved passed on the FP genes?

He's certainly " God's gift to women " - or so he keeps telling us!
When I went into CAF, they told me it is not your total height, but your buttocks to knee measurement. They put you into a frame and squeeze your butt and knee together. If they can squeeze (gently) down to 106.4 cm you pass, otherwise you become an ATCO or admin officer. They will not take in any pilots that could not meet the tightest specification. I was about 1 cm short of the limit, and I am only 1.65m tall (5'6" in old money). There was a short-arm inspection which I suppose I passed, but they did not tell me the specification in that area. After that I passed a gruelling week of aircrew selection at CFB Downsview Defence and Civil Medicine Institute, only to be injured in basic officer training and told I could not continue in the CAF. I went back into electronics and had to pay for all my flying after that!

BTW one of my intake made fun of another, who wanted to be a helicopter pilot, saying he would rather m**t**b*te than fly a helicopter. He ended up being a helicopter pilot, and rescued 44 men off a burning oil rig, 2 at a time. Not always the fighter pilots that have the b**ls!
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 19:52
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Originally Posted by Tengah Type
BomberH
Did you never meet a WIWOL ( or BEagle ) who told you what a REAL FIGHTER PILOT was ? It did not involve mud moving, but did involve lots of hand movements in the bar,, while describing various combat manoeuvres.
TT,

Hand movements like in this video?

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Old 7th Feb 2019, 20:17
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Uncertain what BEagle has to do with real Fighter Pilots.........

My QFI at BFT was a WIWOL - excellent chap.

Absolutely nothing against them - they were great in their time.

But life goes on.

I did a bit of Jaguar, but mostly Harrier, plus a bit of USN and USAF, both on exchange, obviously.

I mixed with some pretty good fighter pilots in my time - unsure of their genetics though, to go back to the thread.

But CG is clearly a perceptive and intelligent individual.

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Old 7th Feb 2019, 20:35
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Bit harsh, BomberH? Admittedly I only achieved 619 hrs on fighters (Hunter and F-4), plus another 146 on the Hawk - which is NOT a fighter to my mind. 47 on the Bucc too...

Anyway, you can take the man out of the fighter, but not the fighter out of the man!

I was chatting to an ex-Luftwaffe F-104 mate yesterday - and it wasn't long before the hands were moving!
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 21:55
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Thumbs up

Originally Posted by Busta
You can always tell a fighter pilot, but you can't tell him much.
beat me to it .
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 22:01
  #37 (permalink)  
 
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To answer the OP:
How much of being a fighter pilot do you believe is genetic?
None of it. Had plenty of students in training with quite a bit of talent, or even natural talent, who washed out due to two problems:
1. Inability to learn quickly
2. Failure to work hard.

Had a number of them surprise me by earning the chance to fly jets and succeeding when I wasn't sure if their talent level was up to it. (Good on 'em!)

Caveat: There are some fine potential fighter pilots who never got to fly due to anthropometric* limits (which has to do with "what part of your body will you leave behind you if you have to eject" and "can you reach that switch under 6 gs?")

*Thanks langley, oops!

Last edited by Lonewolf_50; 8th Feb 2019 at 21:30.
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 22:27
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You really don't mean anthropomorphic do you?
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Old 7th Feb 2019, 22:33
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F-16GUY #33

Perfection!
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Old 8th Feb 2019, 04:06
  #40 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by Lonewolf_50
To answer the OP:

None of it. Had plenty of students in training with quite a bit of talent, or even natural talent, who washed out due to two problems:
1. Inability to learn quickly
2. Failure to work hard.

Had a number of them surprise me by earning the chance to fly jets and succeeding when I wasn't sure if their talent level was up to it. (Good on 'em!)

Caveat: There are some fine potential fighter pilots who never got to fly due to anthropomorphic limits (which has to do with "what part of your body will you leave behind you if you have to eject" and "can you reach that switch under 6 gs?")
Isn't being able to learn quickly an innate skill as well? Or do you mean more in the sense of being able to objectively look at one's own performance/instructor feedback and able to correct mistakes through determination? Also thank you for a good response.
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