Transition Levels/QNH/QFE!
We used QFE at Eastern Airlines and got rid of it a few years before we went under. So did American until the '90s, I believe.
Mike, you are right on the CIS states. I had to (based on Eastern experience) teach some of my C-5 guys going into some CIS states. Amazing, we just sent crews in there with not much more than, "be careful out there." The whole QFE was tough for many to grasp. The GPWS saved at least one of my Westover crews in Manas when they descended to a QFE height with a QNH altimeter setting.
GF
Mike, you are right on the CIS states. I had to (based on Eastern experience) teach some of my C-5 guys going into some CIS states. Amazing, we just sent crews in there with not much more than, "be careful out there." The whole QFE was tough for many to grasp. The GPWS saved at least one of my Westover crews in Manas when they descended to a QFE height with a QNH altimeter setting.
GF
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Whats the big deal with QFE Mr Shock!?
Having done a fair bit of military flying in UK and subsequently other areas where it is QNH ops, there is absolutley no problem with confusion on altimetry settings IMHO, that is of course, providing you are not capacity limited!
Just my two'penneth, I feel that the high standard of discipline regarding descent/altimeter checks we receive through training is more than enough for any capable aviator.
DS
PS I totally agree with you Mr Meeb!
Having done a fair bit of military flying in UK and subsequently other areas where it is QNH ops, there is absolutley no problem with confusion on altimetry settings IMHO, that is of course, providing you are not capacity limited!
Just my two'penneth, I feel that the high standard of discipline regarding descent/altimeter checks we receive through training is more than enough for any capable aviator.
DS
PS I totally agree with you Mr Meeb!
The reason transition levels are different in different countries has to do with ensuring that at the lowest available flight level, there is terrain clearance under all expected conditions of temperature and pressure.
But christ knows why the UK chooses to have such a god awful system of transition levels. Why do they choose to use variable transition levels? What's wrong with a single transition level? A single level removes any doubt/confusion/uncertainty about what the transition level is, where & when. Surely it's not argued that the UK system is easier to use?
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In my humble opinion a common transition altitude of 6000' as suggested in the excerpt by Mike Jenvey is a laudable aim. It would simplify the altimeter setting procedure in the UK without adding the extra complexity of having altitudes in the teens ie "one, one, (eleven) thousand feet" as you hear used in some parts of the world.
I don't really see any benefit to getting rid of QFE for circuits etc. It is a tool available to us which we might as well use.
If there was one improvement I could make to UK altimeter setting procedures it would be for some military units in the South East to provide QNH rather than "regional QNH" (sic) for aircraft in class G. I nearly always have to ask for the QNH after I have transitted thier zone on QFE. (Of course, if I wasn't so lazy, I could work it out myself!)
G W-H
I don't really see any benefit to getting rid of QFE for circuits etc. It is a tool available to us which we might as well use.
If there was one improvement I could make to UK altimeter setting procedures it would be for some military units in the South East to provide QNH rather than "regional QNH" (sic) for aircraft in class G. I nearly always have to ask for the QNH after I have transitted thier zone on QFE. (Of course, if I wasn't so lazy, I could work it out myself!)
G W-H
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I totally agree with Shock Stall that QFE is a total waste of time. It might be worthwhile to point out to Buzz Barron that in most airports around the world "transition altitude" is identified on the Jeppesen approach/departure plate(s) and usually given on the airport's ATIS as well, if there is one available. Similarly, this altitude is stated/reviewed in all inflight crew departure or arrival briefing.
