Altimeter full real.

[Bonkin]

Originally Posted by Varrattu

I do not understand. Bokin please try to explain it.

Regards Varrattu

Think I was a bit quick of the mark with that last comment. I don't think I made sense either!

All altimeters are calibrated through the pressure setting... so yes they do have a scale... but I've noted that to adjust them to read zero on the airfield the pressure setting has to be down around the 980mb level and doesn't change much.

If your flying around in real airspace its important that in order to ensure safe vertical navigation the other people around you have their altimeters calibrated the same as you, i.e. they are using the same pressure setting. Generally, around an airfield you would be provided with a QFE pressure setting. Putting this into you altimeter would mean that it would read zero when your on the airfield.

When you leave the airfield airspace you generally change the pressure setting to QNH. This would be given to you over the radio and would mean that your altimeter would read the altitude above mean sea level. As pressure is a variable, QNH pressures differ by regions.

Finally, when flying above what is known as the transition layer the altimeter pressure would be set to 1013mb - and your height is translated as a Flight Level.

Point I was trying (but failed) to make was that there are no pressure settings given over the comms so to me it seems somewhat irrelivant at the moment to start adjusting the altimeter scale.

Thinking it through... there could be some testing done here to deterime at what heights the radar reports bandits are at and then adjusting the sub-scale to see if it using Flight Levels?