Sorry, you're too fat to be a pilot. Love, FAA

[Jeff Boatright]

...Maybe it wasn't the schedule after all......That's what we need to find out...

So shouldn't we "find out" BEFORE regulations are etched in stone? Shouldn't there be at least a modicum of testing and data collection prior to putting regulations into effect that affect EVERY pilot out there? I don't see how regulating first and then do the research second makes any sense.

[Jim Heffelfinger]

Just announced:
http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/A...d=131213epilot

[Jim Heffelfinger]

I am in renewal for my merchant marine officers credential. This happens every 5 years. Since my last renewal the process has been centralized and the oversight of medical issues has come under far more scrutiny. In the past my apnea was noted by the physician and noted as under control with a CPAP machine - done. Now a full report is needed, with compliance reports and sleep study physician report. It has added a considerable amount of time to the process - delaying by months the issuance of credential - I hope it is reissued.

Could this be a general increase in oversight of the "alertness" needed for operators? And we are just Guinea pigs
in the research?

[Jim Heffelfinger]

BMI calculator: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/ass...alculator.html

I have a BMI of 25.8 and just fall in as "overweight". I am 5 10 180 and 62 years old. Based on this calculator most of America will fall in the overweight category.

Where do you fall in?

[tspear]

BMI calculator: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/ass...alculator.html

I have a BMI of 25.8 and just fall in as "overweight". I am 5 10 180 and 62 years old. Based on this calculator most of America will fall in the overweight category.

Where do you fall in?

fat

Tim

[Jim Heffelfinger]

Well, a BMI of 40 is a 6 foot person over 300 pounds. I suggest that beyond sleep apnia there are likely to be other medical issues far more meaningful to the aviator's health.

[s10sakota]

Awesome. I'm 6'1" at 195 pounds. I'm also a body builder. According to this stupid chart I'm overweight. Hmmm....sure.

[Mike Switzer]

Awesome. I'm 6'1" at 195 pounds. I'm also a body builder. According to this stupid chart I'm overweight. Hmmm....sure.

Yea. When I was in college I was 6'2" & 270 & Squatting 640 when my left knee went out. I have been called "Fat" ever since, even though I played baseball for a long time after that & I am only 220 now.

[crusty old aviator]

Flying Tiger Air Freight had a pilot who got so fat, he had to carry a seat belt extender in his flight bag and couldn't pull the wheel back far enough to flare the aircraft while landing and keep his feet on the pedals. I can understand why the FAA is concerned about the US obesity epidemic getting into the cockpits of the airlines and adversely affecting the safety of airline passengers, but their approach is a bit flawed. As for GA and experimental pilots, I think the diminutive sizes of most of our cockpits dictate our BMI's pretty well without any FAA involvement.

[2ndsegment]

When I showed up for "Top Gun" in late 1969 at Miramar NAS. I needed to, the next day be in Pennysylvania and get in a centrifuge and then get a Dilbert Dunker done to establish I was "ejectible" just to fly in the back of a TA-4 "adversary", though on Monday (it was a Friday at the time.) the criteria might be for an F-4 "Phantom." At the time Harry Gann, the Douglas photographer caught rides, or so I thought, regularly. I currently am trying to get to a BMI of 25 just to be "normal."