Famous pilot health

[Kosh]

I was reading a Finnish aviation journal from the 1930s and it had an interesting article on pilot physical requirements. It mentions a case when during WW One a group of experienced aces were tested for physical fitness. Quite a lot of them had such physical disabilities (asthma, one blind eye, overall weakness etc) that they would never pass a physical regs for post war pilots. On the other hanbd, the one had had the best score broke every plane he flew and later died of a heart attack.

The question is: why are military pilots´ physical regs so stringent when in truth they have no correlation as to the piloting prowess of the pilot? Apparently Mick Mannock was virtually blind in his other eye. Today he couldn´t get any pilot license.

[Graeme]

Kosh

Mannock wasn't blind in either eye. He picked up an amoebic infection whilst in India which affected the sight in one eye for a while but his sight generally was no better or worse than most other pilots'.

Graeme

[TomVrille]

The episode described in the Finnish article may have been the physical screening of former Lafayette Escadrille and Flying Corps flyers for service in the USAS. None of the Escadrille pilots passed, and exemptions had to be granted on a case by case basis to allow these veteran combat pilots to fly. This was the result of the physical standards for flyers being unrelated to the relevant physical requirements. This wasn't all that surprising. Aviation was in its infancy, and aviation medicine was younger still. Thus we have the legacy of the spinning chair test, and the notion that skill in horsemanship was a good indication of success as a flyer.

It was common in the European air services for people to turn to flying after being declared unfit for ground or sea service!

As for why the standards are so rigid, I suggest that the answer may be as simple as the matter of supply and demand. During WW1, the loss rate for flyers was high, and the demand for replacements continued to grow well into 1918. The answer to this was to grant exemptions, rather than reevaluate the standards. A similar policy was followed in the early days of WW2. Today, military aviation is much less manpower intensive than it was. Given the luxury of extreme selectivity, it is unlikely that any meaningful reevaluation of flight physical standards will take place any time soon.

[margaret smith]

I think I read somewhere where Raoul Lufbery was hearing impaired as well as suffering from rhuematisim from time to time yet he went on to be a top ace for the Lafayette Escadrille.

[Kosh]

I reread the article (published in 1934), it is based on an article in Popular Aviation. According to the article:
-Boelcke had acute asthma
-Guynemer was "ruined by tuberculosis"
-Zeumer had a lung disease
-Neuenhofen passed the sight test by learning the table by heart

Further quotes from Elliot White Spring´s "Above the Bright Blue Sky" on th tests of already established aces: "At Issoudun it was noted that the best pilots fainted while being rotated in the "torture chair" and one of them jumped out of window when a pistol was fired behind him during the test. Here it was fopund out that one was practically blind due to nearsightedness. Yet this discovery was made after the fellow had shot down 7 German planes and had been a trusted patrol leader on long recce patrols....Carlinin´s leg was of wood and Guynemer was crippled. The best results were achieved by a guy who wrecked every plane he flew and who later died of a heart failure."

[PfalzPflyer]

Don't forget Hubert Latham, one of the very best pre-war pilots who was reported to be dying of tuberculosis or some other unspecified malady.

Regards,
PfalzPflyer

[Executioner128]

Berthold may have been physically fit before he had flown in the War, but don't forget his big package of wounds during his serving time, in spite off all that, he pressed on ...

[Graeme]

As did Nungesser.

[Skippy]

Originally Posted by Kosh

-Guynemer was "ruined by tuberculosis"

Well, if you read Coppens' DAYS ON THE WING (aka FLYING IN FLANDERS), he refutes most strongly the idea that Guynemer was a consumptive.

"Were he consumptive, how then could he have flown at a high altitude, day after day", said the piqued Belgian, IIRC. Perhaps Dan-San could verify this one way or the other, as he knew Coppens personally.

As to the USAS' medical standards, one of whose "exams" consisted of spinning the subject in a chair till dizzy or nausea set in, then seeing how well they could get back on their feet-- real sciency stuff-- one of their favorite catch-all terms was "staleness"... whatever the hell that means!

Yet this term was used again and again to disqualify an otherwise healthy and proven pilot. "Staleness"-- no set definition was ever made to my knowledge, but it sounded something like normal fatigue ("battle fatigue", perhaps?).

Imagine, if you will, Boelcke being disqualified for "weltschmertz"!

[Ginger.]

Not looking over your shoulder while high in the empty blue was the quickest cure for any malady ailing a WW1 birdman.