Airman of smaller height

Willi Von Klugerman · 20 April 2012, 06:14 PM

I read Osprey's Jasta 2 book and can't help notice a group photo of some of the airman of Jasta Boelcke and notice Fritz Hoffmann, who is only 150 cm tall. It says that special modifications had to be made on his machine. I was wondering what was the minimum height limit for airman on both sides?

redintheskies · 21 April 2012, 07:40 AM

i've found none so far. i don't think there was 1.

Bettors Pub · 21 April 2012, 07:50 AM

I believe I read somewhere that Max Muller was also approximately 150 cm tall so height wasn't necessarily a hindrance to success.

On the other end of the spectrum, Josef Veltjens was 191 cm (6'4") and did pretty well. I believe GvW's amazing book on Jasta 18 (The Red Noses) mentions that he chose small observers as a counterbalance when he flew two-seaters.

Barrett · 22 April 2012, 08:41 AM

"It's not the size of the dog in the (dog)fight but the size of the fight in the dog..."

Bitz Dr1 · 22 April 2012, 10:17 AM

Well said -
I have seen a man with one leg that pilots his WWI replica, and does it quite well.
Modern prosthetics are one thing, but 100 years ago, things could be made to function pretty easily as well.

Gregvan · 22 April 2012, 11:15 AM

This subject has come up before. The example of Fritz Hoffmann shows that the German air service probably did NOT have a "minimum" requirement for pilot height; at that point, late in the war, even an elite unit like Jasta Boelcke accepted him as manpower was becoming limited indeed.

Yes, the book about Josef Veltjens by his son Klaus states that, when Seppl became a pilot in Flieger Abteilung 23, "He selected the shortest man, Ltn. Walter Gnamm, as his observer (or "Franz") to balance his own tall man's weight." Such things were a real concern in those days.

Of course, many of the most successful airmen were of small stature. Udet, Hans Klein and Anthony Beauchamp-Proctor come to mind immediately. In Neal O'Connor's wonderful final book, he wrote that Jasta 6 ace Franz Hemer rarely spoke of his wartime exploits to his family, except "..To say that his small stature probably saved his life after he had become a fighter pilot. Because he weighed less than most young men of his generation, he got a bit more speed out of his aircraft (he was referring to the Fokker Triplane at the time) and he also could fly a bit higher than the others and could attack from above."

There were a number of men with prosthetic devices or other handicaps that flew on both sides in WWI - "Timbertoes" Carlin for the RAF and Walther Karjus in Jasta 11 and 75. And of course, there's Berthold and Nungesser, who persevered and did very well despite crippling injuries...

Men of above average height (like Veltjens) could also do quite well, as noted. IIRC, Hugh "Dingbat" Saunders of No. 84 Sqdn was one such, and I believe he told interviewer Jon Guttman that his large size and weight were something of a detriment to the performance of his SE5a.

Finally, just for fun, many German regiments liked to find their tallest and shortest members and have them pose together for a "Long and the short of it" sort of humorous photo. Here's one from a German two-seater unit. Neither of these gents were pilots of course, but it does illustrate the extremes that were accepted in wartime units.