RT - passing level in climb

[Captain Smiley]

Say you are above transition altitude (9000 feet at my airport) and ATC asks what is your passing level. Your altimeter reads 10700.
Is it correct to respond "Flight Level one zero seven" or are flight levels restricted to 100; 105; 110 etc.

[Spitoon]

FL107 is a valid FL. In some circumstances FL105 and the like will be allocated as cruising levels. Whether the controller will get any benefit from a more accurate level report is doubtful though, although given the performance of some modern aircraft sometimes the mode C can be a bit misleading and a pilot report is more accurate.

If you'll permit me to advocte some non-standard phraseology, I would suggest in your example a report of "just past FL105" or "approaching FL110" might be easier for the controller to assimilate than FL107.

[BizJetJock]

Controllers are probably better placed to answer this, but I always understood that you should give your level to the nearest hundred feet so that your mode C can be verified. Having said that I have flown with many people who give it to the nearest five hundred or thousand, and never had a controller query a discrepancy with their screen.

[JCB 1]

As 107 would never be allocated as a flight level it therefore cannot be classed as such.

My reply would be... "passing Wun Zero Seven climbing FLxxx"

[Watchdog]

Quite correct JCB,

the call is so that the ATC can verify your mode C readout. The requirement is to report 'to the nearest 100 feet'.

Even though, for example, FL107 would not be allocated as cruise level, you should report FL107 as the level passing. This is different to reporting 'last vacated level' as in step climb/descents.

Of course, the difference in report altitude as feet eg. 9,600' and as a flight level is simply that you are referencing Std 1013 rather than to QNH.
If you round up or down too much, ATC will (should) query the discrepancy.

:ok:

[5milesbaby]

Even though a level such as FL107 isn't issued for cruising it IS STILL a FL and should always be called accordingly.