VERA VEIL

The Average Fits No One

4,063 pilots. Not one of them average on all ten measurements.

4,063 pilots. Add the measurements one at a time.

Average on a measurement: within three-tenths of a standard deviation of the mean.

4,063pilots measured

  1. 1stature
  2. 2chest circumference
  3. 3sleeve length
  4. 4crotch height
  5. 5torso circumference
  6. 6hip circumference (likely)
  7. 7neck circumference
  8. 8waist circumference
  9. 9thigh circumference (likely)
  10. 10crotch length

Each point is one pilot. The counts are from Daniels’ 1952 report; which points stay lit is illustrative. Two of the ten names are read from damaged scan text and marked as likely.

1 of 11: 4,063 pilots measured

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Under the surface

The study. In a report published in December 1952, Lieutenant Gilbert S. Daniels analysed ten body measurements of 4,063 pilots, taken from the 1950 Air Force Anthropometric Survey. He counted a pilot as approximately average on a measurement if they fell within three-tenths of a standard deviation of the mean, a band that takes in roughly the middle quarter to third of the pilots on any one measurement. Then he asked how many were approximately average on all ten. None were.

The measurement. The ten dimensions included stature, chest circumference, sleeve length, crotch height and others used in sizing equipment. "Approximately average" is Daniels' working definition for this analysis, not a medical or legal one. Even on just three of the ten (stature, chest and sleeve length), only about 3.5% of the pilots (143 of 4,063) were approximately average on all three.

What it shows, and what it doesn't. The finding is about a description: a profile built from averages matched no one across all ten measurements. It does not show that each pilot was unable to use a cockpit sized to that profile, and adjustable equipment was one design response among many, not the single cause of later safety gains.

Source. Gilbert S. Daniels, The "Average Man"?, Technical Note WCRD 53-7, Wright Air Development Center, December 1952 (DTIC AD0010203). Its data are from the 1950 Air Force Anthropometric Survey. Its own conclusion: because bodies vary so much, it is "virtually impossible" to find an average man in the Air Force population.