The Briefing Window (BMS User Manual)
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In the BMS User Manual, the Briefing Window is addressed starting at page 174.
Each major section of the Briefing Window is briefly discussed… EXCEPT the ‘Steerpoints’ section of the Briefing Window, which is entirely absent. (???)
The reason I bring this up is because in the ‘Steerpoints’ section of the Briefing Window, one of the columns is ALT, listing the required altitude at the various listed steerpoint rows.
All altitudes are listed with ‘M’ appended to it. In terms of distance, I usually associate ‘M’ with meters, but that obviously can’t be right because 20.0M would be ~60 feet in altitude. (!!!)
I would think that 20.0k would make more sense, because ‘k’ is shorthand for kilo, or 1,000, hence 20.0k = 20,000 feet, which is what I think the BMS devs want us to think the altitude designation means.
So I have two questions:
Micro440: Why is that one and only ‘Steerpoints’ section of the Briefing Window completely absent in the User Manual, between the ‘Threat Analysis’ and ‘Comm Ladder’ sections?
Everybody Else: Does anyone know how 20.0M is supposed to mean 20,000 feet? Is ‘M’ supposed to mean something that I’m just not understanding? Should it not read ‘20.0k’?
As usual, thanks in advance for any input.
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@SoBad I’ve always guessed it to be (M)ean Sea Level. Just a SWAG, nothing to back it up
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@Quasi_Stellar I’m willing to bet it’s Mean Sea Level, especially if it’s above the local transition altitude. In the KTO, it’s 14,000 ft., in the United States it’s 18,000 feet. While climbing out, when passing these altitudes, the altimeter should be set to 2992, the standard mean sea level pressure.
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Thanks for the feedback about ‘Mean Sea Level’. I think that’s a good guess that I hadn’t thought of.
And I say ‘a good guess’ because there’s no mention of it in the User Manual because there’s not one word about the ‘Steerpoints’ section of the Briefing Window, although every other section was addressed.
@Micro_440th, I hope you can find a moment to include some reference in the User Manual about the ‘Steerpoints’ section of the Briefing Window, including an explanation of what ‘M’ is supposed to mean.
If you guys are right, then I think it would have been a lot clearer if the column heading read ‘Alt@MSL’ and the numbers would have been, for instance, ‘20.0k’. Any BMS coders around?
As usual, you fellow virtual pilots are helpful and supportive of one another. Thanks for your input.