On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 15:27:22 GMT, "Dudley Henriques"
wrote:

Sounds like a nightmare to me. I've zeroed the needle on occasion for
demonstration work, but I just don't get the logic behind the QFE lobby.
It's just one more thing to worry about changing, and that can lead to
serious problems in the air. I'm a standardization buff. Making as much a
constant as opposed to a variable when it comes to flying has always seemed
to me the best way to go with things. Having several MORE ways to use an
altimeter just adds to normal altimeter confusion; it;s just one more thing
that someone can forget to set or change or figure out.
:-))
Dudley


As for confusion, I'm from the UK but learned in USA and don't find a
problem with QNH or QFE but add to that Flight Levels and Regional
Pressure then you can really have fun.

VFR is usually flown (enroute) using Regional Pressure which is valid
for 1 hour for a specific area. It's equivalent to the estimated
lowest QHN for the next hour. I doubt it's ever more than a few
millibars different to QNH so the error is likely to be small
therefore why bother?

What is a really odd is that IFR is flown on flight levels and in the
UK that's frequently from 3000ft upwards. If you're flying VFR at any
height you can choose to use either QNH (Regional) or FL. (Note the UK
transition altitude is usually 3000ft.)

In the aircraft I fly, in the UK, I have the luxury of being able to
set the lower altimeter on QHN and the upper one on whatever I'm
flying at the time (QNH, QFE, Regional or FL). Additionally the
transponder reads FL.

It was rather nice in January to land at Death Valley (-200ft) then
back to Las Vegas at 2005ft. Made the Wife wonder why the altimeter
did not read zero when we landed!


David

Piper Warrior G-BHJO
Scotland, UK

E-mail (Remove Space after pilot): pilot