My 'Just Planes' DVD's arrived today. I ordered the UAL 777 and the Air Do 767. Both great DVD's. Funny thing though, there was a Capt. on a Air Do flight that wore gloves when T/O and when landing.I do have a question too. I noticed in the cockpit of the 767 that the standy-by altimeter was off by a few hundred feet. It was obviously not set to 2992. I saw this on at least two of the four flights the DVD showed. Is it not neccessary to set the stand-by alt.?Thanks in advance.-=MB=-

Wearing white gloves for flying is customary in Japan (sign of purity or something like that).The standby altimeter is normally set to local QNH (from nearby Airport ATIS as the aircraft flies along the route). This gives the crew an instant altitude AMSL at all times which can aid in terrain clearance issues.The primary altimeter on both sides must of course be set to 1013 (or 29.92 if you're in the states) above the Transition Altitude (which, rather stupidly, differs across the world).Hope this helped.

"Transition Altitude (which, rather stupidly, differs across the world)." - i think the main reason they do this is due to national regulation concerning pollution etc etc...SO if it were to be generalised, it'd be 1 for the EU, one for the VSA and alot of others in the eastern countries....Cheers

Yes, whilst a worldwide Trans. Alt. is unlikely, I still think that countries or continents themselves should set a standard. If the USA can set 18,000ft as theirs (incidentally, a period where flightdeck workload is much less) then why do different airports in the UK insist on having a different Trans. Alt.? 4,000ft here, 5,000 there, 6,000 somewhere else. :-hmmmIn Australia it's 10,000ft everywhere - that always seemed like a good system to me.Anyway out of interest what does it have to do with pollution?

pollution...well it might sound ridiculous, but light pullution in Belgium is a serious issue. I know it sounds ridiculous, but i've made an assignment about it and it's quite serious, as you may know belgium truly has a problem with light pollution...That's one of the things, in belgium at least...

I still don't understand the relationship between transition altitude and pollution. Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time for me. :-)

Thats due to the position error in the standby static system.The standby altimiter is always set to 29.92 like the primaries, but can be up to 700ft more than the primaries during cruise.

G'dayFirst Transition Altitude.It is generally set by country according to that locatins highest terrain and then adding around 45-50 HPA worth of altitude(1500') to allow for Qnh variation.I can't remember the exact amount.This will mean an aircraft with 1013(29.92) set will still have minimum 1000 ft terrain seperation even with very low QNH.A standard cannot be set unless you want a minimum trans alt of over FL290 due to the large volume of traffic going through the Himalaya's between Europe and Asia.This is why under ICAO it remains the local country requirement and is on all plates.Second.Standby ALtMany companies use the standby alt to give a local reference in case of an en-route emergency descent and hence an immediate reference to terrain seperation.Its not a bad idea but in the event of an altimeter disparity you do not know which of the 2 primary alt's is not working until you reset the standby to 1013.Hope this helps and you understand the explanation.:)