As you say, different perspectives relative to IFR or VFR ops - although I suspect if you'd been taught to fly anywhere else but the UK then you would find QNH more natural. I see your point about the differing altitudes at 3 close airfields. However, remembering varying VFR pattern altitudes is another one of those airmanship-type things that the UK QFE system does not equip people for. Instead it engenders a "visual circuit = 1000 feet" (or whatever) pavlovian reponse. Which is all very well in the UK but, like it or not, the rest of the world aren't going to change and we are not doing ourselves any favours by training obscure practices into our youngsters - even if the underlying logic is sound.
You are not convincing me about clutch pressures.
A QFE is relevant to a specific runway - so that the altimeter reads zero at touchdown on that runway. A different runway, even at the same field, will have a different QFE unless the TDZE is identical. Some countries allow QFE inside the final approach fix - for example Paris De Gaulle offers 4 QFEs for the parallel runways.
Conversely, QNH is relevant to the whole airfield and the differences in runway elevations are accounted for by publishing different DAs and TDZEs for each runway. The pattern, approaches and missed approaches to the different runways are all flown on the same pressure setting and are thus coherent. A zone QNH is equally valid at all airfields in the zone, provided that barometric pressure does not change markedly over a few miles (not likely) and if it did the zone would adopt the lower QNH.
A zone QFE is not really a valid because, the altimeter only reads height above the TDZ of one particular runway within the zone. Aircraft flying to other fields/runways are not landing on QFE, they are landing on a pressure setting that gives neither height nor altitude. The special procedures that are published for Kinloss/Lossie are a case of bending conventional procedures and definitions to fit in with the Brit Mil QFE policy. I have not seen this practice anywhere else in the world.
Perhaps I should get back to plank forums?
