Tower Q's?
-
I was told that QFE is still in use in the UK, is that correct?
And also usually at airshows… ???
Was also mistaken about usage of QFE in my country, which have already confirmation that’s not the case… -
I was told that QFE is still in use in the UK, is that correct?
And also usually at airshows… ???
Was also mistaken about usage of QFE in my country, which have already confirmation that’s not the case…Last time I looked, RAF procedures always include setting QFE before rejoining the circuit.
-
I believe Q stands for question or more likely query but I believe the meaning of the following two letters has been retroactively assigned to aid memory. If you look at the other Q codes the suffix isn’t tied to the meaning of the content. People assign memory aids to the suffix and until I see the 1929 telegraph handbook explaining the suffix letters that’s what I’m going to believe.
Read my posts. There is the explanation. (Which is basically what you are saying)
Someone lock the thread.
-
Depends on nation and/or SOP regulations, I suppose.
In Belgium, civil (GAT) generally uses QNH, while military (OAT) uses QFE. GAT will also switch to QNE when climbing through TA (set at 4,500ft) or to QNH when descending through TRL (varies between FL040 and FL075, iirc), while OAT always switches when passing 10,000ft/FL100.
GAT and Military use the same. Only the french military still fly in QFE.
-
GAT and Military use the same. Only the french military still fly in QFE.
That’s not what I heard from a belgian mission planner thoug…
-
GAT and Military use the same. Only the french military still fly in QFE.
That’s not what I heard from a belgian mission planner thoug…
Thanks Cheetah, Focal and I have the same source, and he initially told us BAF uses QFE. Yesterday, after checking, he told me he was wrong and BAF indeed uses QNH, so I stand corrected and will update my first post ASAP.:)
-
Then i stand corrected also
-
Only the french military still fly in QFE.
French military fighters, and only during approach operation on military airfields.
-
Hello everybody! A few word to help……
All QNH, QFE, QNE(1013 mbs OR 2992 inch) is what we call in atc world altimeter setting. Just a few things to help you out.
QNH is your altitude from mean sea level, QFE is your altitude from a ground obstacle wich is the airport or airbase and named height, and QNE is a standard based (“fake”)
altitude using 1013/2992…
Airports (and airbases) have a significant altitude named Transition altitude (TA) which is standard number.
For example Santorini airport has TA 5000 feet and Tanagra airbase has TA 9000 feet. This number is according to the obstacles nearby.
All climbing acfts (aircrafts) from Tanagra, are using QNH (f.ex. QNH 1020) until passing 9000 feet. Until that altitude everynumber they see at their altimeter they call it “feet”.
After passing 9000ft (feet), the must change the altimeter setting to 1013 (QNE you say), and from that point everynumber in altimeter is called Flight Level (FL). For example if you see 10500 in altimeter you called that FL105, or if you see 11000 you called that FL110.
There is one more number called Transition Level (TL). This number is usually used from descending acft. From that point if you descend you must reset your altimeter to QNH. TL is a number that is not standard but changes according the QNH prices. For example if Tanagra QNH is 1020 TL is FL100, if Tanagra QNH is 1008 TL is FL105. There is a fixed table to find TL.
For examble if you are flying on course to Tanagra on FL280 (with QNE or 1013) and you are starting descent, and Tanagra QNH is 1020 and TL is FL100, after passing FL100 descending, you must reset altimeter to 1020 (QNH) and everything you see inside altimeter you call it in feet, for example 6500 is 6500ft (6 thousand 5 hundred feet).
The layer that consists from TA until TL is called Transition Layer and an aircraft should not fly a straight flight inside for seperation reasons.A last word. USbuilt acft such as A-7,F-4, F-16, F-4 they use inches on altimeter, and European built acft (Mir 2000, Mir F-1,…) they use altimeter pressure in milibars (or HPA). So F-16 cockpit reads QNE 2992 and Mirage 2000 reads 1013. There is a fixed table to convert.
Don’t be confused. If you freeze the sim try to use QNH,QFE,QNE and you see that only the indications of altimeter changing.
You are doing great job on BMS!!! Keep working… Best regards…!!
-
Royal Air Force use QFE in millibars for takeoff, landing, and circuits.
Local area below transition altitude is flown on Regional QNH (in mbs)
Above transition altitude (in UK about 4000 feet IIRC) Standard Altimeter Setting 1013.2mb is used to give Flight Levels, except for manoeuvring like ACT where Regional QNH will be used.
QFE is usually set as an instruction from an Air Traffic Controller within an initial recovery descent transmission (depending on distance from base and clear of controlled airspace)
Thats in very basic simple terms…. -
when is proper time to set each of these? based on bms…
-
so, qfe/qnh/qne == agl/msl/pressure alt?
use qfe in airport environment, qnh for tactical operations, and qne for civilian >FL180?
-
@Justice: Set field elevation in altimeter during start. Ask tower for QNH prior to taxi and confirm it’s a small adjustment. Ask again descending for landing to calibrate for any changes during the mission.
@Bidbadhen: Nearly right. QFE is ancient and a dying practice that USAF haven’t used operationally in a long time (if ever?) It used to be used by the Thunderbirds demo team to simplify the height math but stopped due to a huge fatal incident. All the commercial carriers I know stopped due to safety concerns. The RAF and Georgia were the last holdouts I knew. I don’t know if even they use it anymore.
Besides that, exactly right. FL180 isn’t universal around the globe. Korea is 14,000’ for example. Lots of Europe has much lower transition layers. So in BMS it’s QNH 100%.
-
@Justice: Set field elevation in altimeter during start. Ask tower for QNH prior to taxi and confirm it’s a small adjustment. Ask again descending for landing to calibrate for any changes during the mission.
Absolutely! But to go into a little more into detail (this stuff got me confused too back when I started studying BMS and flight sims in general
- ask QNH prior to taxi and set the altimeter
- once you climb through the transition altitude (TA), set the standard pressure altitude aka QNE - 29.92 inHg (1013 hPa - depending what you set in your BMS config)
- ask tower for QNH when inbound and before descending through the transition layer (TL, a standardized flight level)
- set QNH when descending through TL
You’ll find some info on TA and TL in the NavAid documents and Departure Charts located in the /Docs/Airport Approach & Navigation Charts folder.
Hope these 2 cents help you out
Cheers,
Eggs -
and the aips for korea and emf