February 17, 200323 yr Not the first time I have suffered this. Flew from London Heathrow to Edinburgh yesterday and was climbing to FL260 as filed. After being handed off from one ATC centre I waited until I was near cruise altitude before contacting the next. Did it too early and got constant "Please expidite your climb to FL260" until eventually the plan was cancelled.So, I reset everything and tried again. This time, I increased the VS a little bit so I'd reach cruise a bit quicker which was successful. Also, I switched to each ATC centre in turn to get the latest altimeter setting (I had real world weather downloaded).So, there I am. The latest altimeter setting entered, all altimeters reading 26000 and then:"Speed Bird 1443, please expedite your climb to FL260""Uh, I AM at 260"After a few minutes;"Speed Bird 1443, please expedite your climb to FL260""I AM AT 260!!!!"And again;"Speed Bird 1443, please expedite your climb to FL260""I AM AT F@#*ING 260, YOU STUPID PIECE OF....."Until eventually, again the IFR plan is cancelled. I take a few deep breaths to dissuade myself from throwing my PC out of the window and then continue in a sulk to EDI!!I was cheered a little to see that a Continental AI flight suffered the same a few minutes later!Why does this happen? I just hope it'll be improved in CoF!
February 17, 200323 yr If I follow you correctly you are using whatever altimeter setting that ATC gives you all the way up to your desired altitude (or flight level)? If you do that you will suffer the fate you are describing. As you pass 18 000 ft change the barometer setting to 1013/2992 (depending on where you are in the world). Actually you can change it whenever you feel like as long as you have set to standard (1013/2992) when you are leveling out at the desired flight level. If you have filed a flight plan below 18000ft you should use the altimeter setting given by ATC. In real life the Transition Altitude (TA) varies at lot if you /Tord Hoppe, Sweden
February 17, 200323 yr FSUIPC has an option to do just that, by the way. You can select a key combination to set the altimeter to 29.92. Works great.
February 17, 200323 yr It would be nice if MS fixed this in FS2004 so that the flight plan is not cancelled Alaister Kay
February 17, 200323 yr Actually, it is a bug - in deference to computer purists who want to argue with me, it's really a fundamental design flaw! Something I would consider "worse" than a bug; because it reveals the developer's ignorance of true-to-life ATC procedures!!! ATC never cancels a flightplan without the pilot's permission! If you bust an altitude or stray off-course, the controller may express his displeasure... he may even file a pilot deviation (which may threaten your license to continue flying); but he/she will NEVER cancel your IFR flightplan without your consent. I love FS2K2, but the ATC is not very realistic. MS promises improvements in the next version - let's hope they correct this problem.Regards,Marc
February 17, 200323 yr In the UK, the transition altitude is much lower.EGLL and EGPH are both 6000ftBecause the MS ATC is the American way of doing things, it will give you a QNH (local sea level barometric pressure) as you descend below 18000ft (or is it FL180, I forget).However, above the transition altitude (whatever it is) you should set your altimeter to 1013.25 or 29.92. To avoid being told off by MS ATC it's probably easier to do it the American way.Hope this helps,Ian
February 18, 200323 yr Thank you.I am always learning. :-)Nonetheless, for me, a worse problem is not being able to change the assigned altitude.
February 18, 200323 yr and another worse one is being vectored into mountains if approaching in mountainous areas; I look forward to trying that new topographic map that comes with the gps. hope, the terrain model is even more complex and real then.CheersPhilCome to DAD!http://www.dangerous-airports.com/images/dad_logo.jpg
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