Originally Posted by
plasmarb
I know this has been asked a million times, and apologies in advance but I've researched this question and confused myself silly.
My understanding is that QFE - Height above aerodrome (0' on ground)
QNH - Altitude above aerodrome (Set sub scale with current MB reading) will display aerodromes elevation above MSL.
QNE - Altitude above MSL at standard setting of 1013 (used when above 3000ft, only if dealing with ATC)
As a microlight pilot I know we'll mostly deal with QFE & QNH.
My question is, how do you set QNH from QFE?
Thank you!
Coming back to the original question.
(1) Technically correct answer: subtract (airfield elevation / 27) from the QNH.
(2) Most sensible answer: ask the tower at your destination on RT what QFE is.
(3) Pragmatic answer, particularly if there's no tower: leave the altimeter on your last QNH. Mentally just add the airfield elevation to circuit height (or any other critical height) and fly to that.
Most countries don't use QFE at-all, it's become a bit of a British anachronism (although personally I quite like it), so (3) is actually the right answer in most of the world, most of the time and should not get you in trouble anywhere if you choose to do it that way.