AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2021 - 98

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patterns, so as we travel, we're given
updated altimeter settings that reflect the
pressure changes happening at the surface.
This works well, until we climb
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Airshow and other aerobatic
pilots use QFE because it gives a
quick, accurate picture of their
proximity to terra firma.
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altimeter settings go to 29.92 inHg/1013.2
mb at 18,000 feet msl, but now approach
charts publish a transition altitude to
conform to international charting standards.
Our transition altitude is 18,000
feet msl, but in other countries it's often
lower, and can vary from nation to nation
and airport to airport depending on
nearby terrain and/or procedural standards.
Some transition altitudes can be
as low as 3,000 or 5,000 feet msl.
Now let's say you're descending
out of FL250 (not 25,000 feet!) and
approach FL180 on your way to an altitude
clearance of 7,000 feet. FL180 is
your transition level, and the moment
you descend through it you change your
altimeter setting from 29.92 inHg/1013.2
mb to a local QNH of, say, 30.15 inHg or
1021 mb/hPa.
Pilots sometimes confuse the terms
transition altitude with transition level,
or think they have the same meaning.
98
AOPA PILOT / September 2021
above 18,000 feet msl. The moment we
pass through 18,000 feet, we enter Class
A airspace and transition to the use of
QNE. That means changing our altimeter
setting to a different reference pressure-
standard pressure-which is 29.92 inHg,
or 1013.2 mb/hPa. Once leveled off, we're
flying at a flight level-a level of constant
pressure. Instead of reporting our altitude
in feet, we tell ATC that we're at,
say, Flight Level 250 (FL250).
That switch from QNH to QNE, or
feet to flight levels, is an important one.
It brings up a term-transition altitude-
that hasn't seen much use in the United
States until recently. We all know that
But transition altitudes are for climbs to
the flight levels, whereas transition levels
are designated for descents altitudes.
If it helps, think of the " A " in altitude as
pointing the way up, and the " V " in flight
levels as pointing down.
Again, in the United States transition
altitudes and transition levels are usually
the same: 18,000 feet msl and FL180-
unless altimeter settings below 29.92
render FL180 unusable. But in foreign
nations and airports, the two can differ.
To add to any confusion, ATC-in the
United States and elsewhere-may assign
you a transition level on its own initiative-simply
by clearing you to a lower
altitude and adding an altimeter setting.
If you're at FL190 and hear, for example,
" Cleared to 7,000 feet, altimeter 30.15, "
you can consider your current altitude
as your transition level, and descend
to 7,000 feet using your new altimeter
setting-even though you're above the
published transition level. You'll have
advance notice of this sort of clearance
if you see that the charted transition level
is given as " By ATC. "
Then there's QFE. This is a condition
where the altimeter is set to read an altitude
of zero feet when the airplane is on
an airport surface-typically, a runway
threshold. Think of the " FE " as " field
elevation. " Airshow and other aerobatic
pilots use QFE because it gives a quick,
accurate picture of their proximity to
terra firma.
Some airlines use QFE as a crosscheck
when flying instrument approaches.
Often, two of the panel's altimeters are
set to show conventional, QNH altitudes.
Another is set to read QFE so that the
crew can have an instant " countdown "
altitude to the runway. Another big value
is that decision heights and MDAs can
be bugged.
Well, it's getting late and I'm sitting
outside on my deck. It's a warm night, the
wind is calm, and all is quiet. Then a distant,
haunting sound floats through the
trees. It's a train whistle, slowly sounding
out Morse code... dah...dah...dit...dah.
It's a mandatory Q code-literally,
Morse for " Q. " It means the train is closing
in on a road crossing.
tom.horne@aopa.org
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2021

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