Female Pilots vs. Male Pilots

Don't everybody expect more from the title than is there, first of all!

In a farly mundane conversation with a friend of mine who works in the anatomy and physiology area, he mentioned something to me since he know my aircraft/pilot interests.

It is been shown, in numerous studies that female pilots due to their different physiologies, can withstand more significant G rates!

Now a few things to consider:

1. There are exceptions to every rule of course.
2. Not all female pilots have extreme G tolerances, just an average.
3. None of it will matter with UAV's anyway.

But, I did find this information very interesting, not to mention the already held standard belief that female pilots are better (On average) at multitasking tasks such as mission programming and perhaps recon missions that take long hours of concentration.

Looking forward to hearing responses on this one gang.........No fighting guys and gals, just some intelligent conversation please!!

Peace, Mondogiwa

P.S. By the way, this thread is in no way intended to start an argument of which sex is the best pilot, just some good info to ponder!!

[edit on 5-11-2006 by Mondogiwa]

[edit on 5-11-2006 by Mondogiwa]

[edit on 5-11-2006 by Mondogiwa]

I've heard that when they fly, female pilots need to wear really strong sports bras, with of course the 'displacement factor' increasing the larger the bust size.
Also, I wonder if men would be able to withstand ejections better than women? More bone tissue, stronger muscles, etc. Makes me wonder.

But of course, with all these fancy UAVs coming into the game, I don't think things like this would matter much longer.

The standard thougths if this is that women can concentrate on many things at once and men only in one thing, however much more efficiently. I wouldn't start to talk about this, because 1, it will start a hell of a discussion here if anyone says the other one is better. 2, actually none is better. They are all getting the same training, and nowadays much of the airsuperiority isn't fighted in dogfights, F-22 is a good example. It kills before it gets seen (or at least that's the thought)

Don't kill me for this but Females more likely to have accidents

Obviously there are examples of males being worse pilots too.

[edit on 5-11-2006 by Figher Master FIN]

This i think came up in studies by US Marines and NASA several decades ago but at the time politics deemed females being combat pilots as bad form. Its only been due to some politicians pushing the female side of things and low recruiting numbers that females were allowed to serve as combat pilots. Their tolerance to higher G's is on memory due to their lower centre of gravity in comparison to men.

As for body damage caused by an ejection - i would dare say at least one female has ejected from a combat plane by now whilst in military service so the information may be out there!?

Years ago when i was in flight school, i came across a study that suggested women were better at "feeling" the aircraft, whereas guys were better at "seeing" what the aircraft is doing, relying more on visual cues than feel.

With newer aircraft such as the F-22 and F-35 you really don't have to multi task that much, it allows you to focus specifically on your enemy. Also, I'll probably get hammered for this but who cares, killer instinct anyone? Am I wrong in assuming that men are more aggressive? This is a trait all good pilots share.

Originally posted by WestPoint23
With newer aircraft such as the F-22 and F-35 you really don't have to multi task that much, it allows you to focus specifically on your enemy. Also, I'll probably get hammered for this but who cares, killer instinct anyone? Am I wrong in assuming that men are more aggressive? This is a trait all good pilots share.

Oh yes, men like to say "hit hard and hit often", whereas the womens like to say "the dinner is ready" Don't understand this post wrong.

I would love to see some links with research that women are potentially better pilots and they can stand higher Gs. I don't say it's not true, but (gender bias aside) I know for sure that for example in army there used to be much lower requirements for women in physical condition tests just few years ago- otherwise 90% of them would not make it.

I just heard about a study that suggests that men are better at teaming up to fight an outside enemy, while women are better at just fighting one enemy (usually internal). Perhaps this means that females might make better individual pilots much like the Japanese pilots of WWII, but the males would be significantly better on a team just like the American pilots of WWII.

altrough a important part in combat flying this isnt everything.

I do remember reading in a aviation magazine (sorry I don't remember what one but it was a long time ago before I had access to the net) that said that women had better G tolerance and men had better situation awareness i.e. knowing where everything is around you.

In the late 90s I heard that the woman's heart is closer to the brain the the male's. This is why they can withstand more G's. I don't know anatomy that good, so can anyone else chime in on this? It would make sense if this was the case.

I also know that they redesigned G-suits for women. This also happened in the late 90s.

I do know that hearing a female's voice on the radio makes it easier for the operations folks to decipher who is talking incase the transmission is broken up. While there are more female aircrew today then in the past, it will continue to help out during a mission since the ratio of female to male aircrew is still not equal. Having a dynamic range of voice patterns is part of good planning for an operation if you ask me.

I heard pound for pound there,s not much difference in flight..

But when it comes to reverse parking...

Originally posted by dragon72
I do remember reading in a aviation magazine (sorry I don't remember what one but it was a long time ago before I had access to the net) that said that women had better G tolerance and men had better situation awareness i.e. knowing where everything is around you.

Actually I thought men were better Navigators and Women were better Target trackers as well as higher G force tolerances. The reason why they can track targets so well is because evolution has provided them the gift of keeping tabs on multiple things at the same time, Multitasking. I've always been jealous of this for as long as I can remember. It would be sooo useful for strategy games... though as previous persons before me have stated, modern computers have rendered most of these advantages moot....except for the G forces aspect which IS a significant advantage.

Am I wrong in assuming that men are more aggressive?

There are A type personalities in the Female sex, just not as many of them due to upbringing. I've played Hockey with women before and I can tell you they can be just as aggressive as the guys. They just can't hit as hard or skate as fast. They are more agile though.

Originally posted by sardion2000
I've played Hockey with women before and I can tell you they can be just as aggressive as the guys.

There are exceptions, of course, I just can't imagine all those years of evolutionary hunting, strategizing, leading, and surviving not counting for anything.

Originally posted by WestPoint23

Originally posted by sardion2000
I've played Hockey with women before and I can tell you they can be just as aggressive as the guys.

There are exceptions, of course, I just can't imagine all those years of evolutionary hunting, strategizing, leading, and surviving not counting for anything.

How many of those things are really necessary in a modern day fighter pilot though? Wouldn't patience be a better attribute? How about the increased agility due to higher G force tolerances? How much aggression does it really take to "pull the trigger" and watch a blip on a screen go dark? I can see how that argument can hold greater weight when considering ground operations though not so much for this.

Originally posted by sardion2000
How many of those things are really necessary in a modern day fighter pilot though?

Umm... all of them? There's more to being a fighter pilot then pressing a button. And the G tolerance bit might hold true for the general population but for trained pilots in suits, how much of a difference is there? Not that maneuverability will matter much in the future, but I digress.

Also patience is necessary to a point, but then you also have to do business.


[edit on 11-11-2006 by WestPoint23]

Aggression is more of a detriment to a fighter pilot IMO.

Logic and clear thinking is what wins fights and keeps you alive, hot-headedness and rash decisions do not.



Women are supposed to have better g tolerance and multi-tasking, men are supposed to have better spatial awareness [judge of distances, speeds etc]. I reckon training would reduce most of the variation to a minimum though.




I reckon women would do a great job in the USAF... Only thing is, would there be enough room on a carrier deck for a woman to park?

*grabs tin hat and runs*

Originally posted by kilcoo316
Logic and clear thinking is what wins fights and keeps you alive, hot-headedness and rash decisions do not.

Why does aggression have to be associated with "hot-headedness and rash decisions"? The two are by no means exclusively linked, IMO one needs both.

Originally posted by WestPoint23
Why does aggression have to be associated with "hot-headedness and rash decisions"? The two are by no means exclusively linked, IMO one needs both.

Eh?

I would view the three as being very under the one roof. Having an aggressive nature will often result in you jumping in before thinking the thing through and making a balls of it.


A combat pilot needs to be cool and level-headed at all times, bear in mind your strengths, your opponent's weaknesses, and construct the fight to augement your strengths - not charge in trying to kill everything in 10 seconds.